Boyhood Page #16

DAD (CONT'D)

What?

MASON:

You don't remember?

DAD:

Remember what?

MASON:

Really? You said that was going to

be my car when I turned sixteen.

DAD:

(laughs)

What? No, I didn't. I never said

that.

MASON:

I remember. I was in third grade

and you were taking me over to Anthony

Nagar's house for his birthday...

and we were there early, so we gave

him a ride around the block. And he

was talking about how much he loved

your car and so you were all like

"Oh. This is going to be Mason's

when he turns 16."

DAD:

What are you..? Alright, first off,

I have no memory of that, alright?

Second of all, I would never say

that. Never.

MASON:

Yeah. You did though.

DAD:

What? Mason. Come on, what about

your sister? I'm just gonna forget

about her? Come on, how's that fair?

Huh? Anthony Nagar, what the?

(MORE)

112.

DAD (CONT'D)

(laughs)

Are you...? Oh, come on! I mean,

you're not... Ughh.

Look, you can sit there like there's

a death in the family, alright, but

bottom line is that was my car.

Alright? I paid for it, I took care

of it, and I can do whatever I want

with it. Alright? I'm sorry if you

had other ideas about it but when

you get older you can save up and

buy a car of your own. And be cool

like I used to be. Or... you can

get a mini-van.

Annie and Samantha watch a Lady Gaga music video on Samantha's

cell phone in the back seat.

ANNIE:

Does your mom actually let you watch

this?

SAMANTHA:

Yeah. She likes it too.

ANNIE:

(laughing)

Oh, my god... Okay, well.

SAMANTHA:

Yeah.

ANNIE:

Have you ever seen her in concert?

SAMANTHA:

No. But she's coming to Houston in

April.

ANNIE:

She's coming to Houston?

SAMANTHA:

Mm-hmm.

ANNIE:

Oh you know, your dad and I could

get you tickets, and you could stay

with us.

SAMANTHA:

That'd be great.

113.

ANNIE:

Yeah.

DAD:

Hey, hey, Annie? Will you get me

the, the little birthday present for

Mason?

ANNIE:

Yeah, babe.

Annie hands a small wrapped present to Dad. Mason unwraps

the gift to reveal a CD set.

DAD:

Alright. This one, this one needs a

little explanation, okay? Open it

up. I call that "The Beatles' Black

Album". Alright, what it is, is the

best of John, Paul, George, and Ringo

solo, post-break up.

MASON:

Thanks.

DAD:

Yeah, basically, I put the band back

together for you.

Annie Laughs.

DAD (CONT'D)

You know, whenever you listen to too

much of the solo stuff, it kind of

becomes a drag, you know? But you

put 'em next to each other, alright,

and they start to elevate each

other... and then you can hear it.

Huh! It's The Beatles. You know?

MASON:

I don't know. I think I always just

liked Paul the best.

DAD:

It doesn't matter, you know, you're

missing the point. There is no

favorite Beatle! That's what I'm

saying. It's in the balance. That's

what made them the greatest f***ing

rock band in the world. Okay? You

know, and there's this decade of

music out there that's been scattered.

Alright?

(MORE)

114.

DAD (CONT'D)

And now it has been carefully found,

arranged, and ordered for you, by

your loving father.

ANNIE:

Very arranged and very organized,

over and over again by your loving

father.

DAD:

Yes, yes, yes. So, I mean, look at

that-- look at that, uh, top of Volume

II, first four tracks... You've got

"Band on the Run" into "My Sweet

Lord", into "Jealous Guy", into

"Photograph". I mean, come on.

It's like the perfect segue. You

got Paul, who takes you to the party,

George who talks to you about God,

John who says no, it's about love

and pain, and then Ringo who just

says hey, can't we enjoy what we

have while we have it? It's a good

record. I sh*t you not.

MASON:

Cool.

EXT. RANCH HOUSE - DAY

The mini-van drives along a dirt road lined with trees and

parks outside of a small ranch home. GRANDPA CLIFF and NANA

come outside to greet their guests.

DAD:

Hey there, Cliff.

GRANDPA CLIFF:

Hey, how you doin'?

DAD:

Oh, good. How you doin'?

NANA:

(to Mason)

Oh, hi, birthday boy! It's good to

see you.

GRANDPA CLIFF:

Good. Good to see you.

DAD:

Ah, it's great to see you.

115.

GRANDPA CLIFF:

You made it alright, huh?

DAD:

Yeah, we sure did. We sure did.

GRANDPA CLIFF:

(to Annie)

How are you, darling?

INT. KITCHEN - DAY

Annie and Nana quietly light the candles on Mason's birthday

cake.

DAD:

Alright, we ready?

ANNIE:

Yeah, yeah, get started -

NANA:

Wait, wait, wait...

INT. LIVING ROOM - DAY

DAD:

Hey, Sam.

He subtly indicates for her to get off her laptop and join

the family. They take their seats in the living room.

DAD (CONT'D)

Hey, still sleeping here?

GRANDPA CLIFF:

Oh, yeah, sawin' logs.

DAD:

You ready?

The family sings happy birthday to Mason. Nana brings in

the birthday cake, complete with lit candles.

ALL:

(singing)

Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday

to you. Happy birthday, dear Mason...

Happy birthday to you!

DAD:

Make a wish, make a wish.

Mason blows out the candles. The family cheers.

116.

NANA:

Real good! Presents! Wait, wait,

wait. Here, sweetie.

Nana hands Mason a wrapped gift.

DAD:

Hey Sam, would you get us a knife so

we can cut this up? Hey? Alright.

Sam walks into the kitchen to grab a knife.

NANA:

I hope you like it. I heard you

didn't have one, so.

He unwraps the gift.

NANA (CONT'D)

It's a Bible. Is this your first

Bible? Look, there's your name...

MASON:

Wow.

NANA:

...In gold. And wait-wait-wait-wait.

Look at this. It's a Red Letter

edition, and that means that

everything Jesus said is in red.

MASON:

Thank you.

NANA:

Like it? Alright. I love you,

sweetie. Happy Birthday.

ANNIE:

And this one's from us.

Annie hands Mason a large gift box.

DAD:

It's not going to make all your dreams

come true, here, you know. Just

keep your expectations low. No, no,

no, no, you need it. It's...

Dad pulls a blue dress shirt, blazer, and tie out of the

box.

DAD (CONT'D)

It's -- hey! Come, on right? You

gotta have it. You need this.

117.

NANA:

Wow!

DAD:

You've got life ahead of you. You

know -

ANNIE:

And the shirt is blue, and I know

you like blue.

DAD:

You've got dances -

NANA:

It's beautiful!

DAD:

-- And job interviews. Here, I'm

going to get it all wrinkled here.

Grandpa comes out of the kitchen with a covered gun.

GRANDPA CLIFF:

Mason?

DAD:

(whispers)

The Black Album was from me.

NANA:

Uh-oh.

GRANDPA CLIFF:

Come here, son. Pull that off.

Mason walks over and pulls the case off to reveal a shotgun.

GRANDPA CLIFF (CONT'D)

There's a 20 gauge shotgun.

MASON:

Wow.

GRANDPA CLIFF:

Yeah. My dad gave it to me when I

was a little younger than you, and

his dad gave it to him, and well,

you're fifteen and I'd like for you

to have it. Alright? Here, you

hold it. Yeah.

MASON:

(taking the gun)

Thank you.

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