Boyhood Page #24

MASON:

What does that even mean?

DAD:

It means don't hand over the controls

to your self-esteem to Sheila.

MASON:

Sheena.

DAD:

Alright. It means you are responsible

for you, not your girlfriend, not

your mom, not me. You. And if you

truly take care of you, you will be

amazed at how much girls like Sheena

start lining up at your front door.

MASON:

Great.

168.

DAD:

Yeah, you know, you just gotta

separate yourself from the pack in

some way. Excel at something, you

know, and then you have your pick of

the litter when them front-running

hussies start sniffing around.

MASON:

So what you're saying is, I should

take up lacrosse.

DAD:

Exactly. Or you could, you know,

start a band. Worked for me a long

time ago. I think it's still working

for Jimmy. Or you just keep taking

pictures.

MASON:

She hated the pictures I took of

her.

DAD:

Alright. I'm sick to death of her,

okay? I only met her a few times

and yes she was cute, alright. But,

truth be told I always thought she

was a little bit, you know, a little

bit too square for you. Y'know, not

quite the same vibe.

MASON:

You really thought that?

DAD:

On some subtle, lower level. I mean,

uh, I wasn't surprised when it turned

out she was interested in some

knucklehead lacrosse player, okay?

I mean, bottom line is, it's all

timing with these things. Y'know.

I mean, uh, take your mom and me.

Y'know I think I probably turned

into the boring castrated guy she

wanted me to be fifteen or twenty

years ago, y'know? And man I'm not

saying she was wrong to be pissed.

I'm not, I'm just saying that, y'know,

she could have been a little more

patient... a little more forgiving.

MASON:

Would've saved me that parade of

drunken a**holes.

169.

Dad gestures zipping his lip, saying nothing.

MASON (CONT'D)

So what's the point?

DAD:

Of what?

MASON:

I don't know, any of this.

Everything.

DAD:

Everything? What's the point? I

mean I sure as sh*t don't know. I

mean, but, neither does anybody else.

Okay, we're all just winging it, you

know? I mean the good news is you're

feeling stuff. You know? And you

got to hold onto that. You do. I

mean you get older and you don't

feel as much. You're skin gets

tougher. The point is those pictures

you took. Thousands of submissions

from all over the state and you won.

MASON:

Well, I got silver. And nine other

people did, too.

DAD:

I'm gonna kill you. I'm tryin' to

tell you that I believe in you,

Mason. I think you're really special,

and if some girl doesn't see that,

then f*** her, y'know?

Jimmy's at the mic.

JIMMY (O.S.)

Hey, this next one goes out to a

young man in the house -

DAD:

Woo-oho!

JIMMY:

Known him since he was just a small

boy, now he's all graduated from

high school, making me feel old.

Happy high school graduation, Mason.

He plays his guitar, and the band kicks in... sounding pretty

great.

170.

INT. CAFE - DAY

Mom, Mason and Samantha sit down at a table. A waitress

places menus.

MOM:

Thank you. Okay guys, let's be clear.

I'm going to break this into four

categories. One. Anything you wanna

keep from your childhood and your

taking with you. Two. Throwing

away. Three. Donating. Four.

Whatever you wanna try to sell at

the garage sell next weekend, whatever

we don't sell, we're donating.

MASON:

Doesn't the apartment have like an

attic, or storage or something?

MOM:

No. You're missing the point. We're

not going to drag a bunch of crap to

mom's tiny apartment.

SAMANTHA:

Can't believe we're moving again.

MOM:

No, I'm moving! You moved two years

ago. You have an apartment in Austin.

Mason is moving the fall. I'm done.

This will be great for me. I'll

have all these options. I could

take a sabbatical. I could get some

writing done and try to get published.

MASON:

What about Christmas, though? What

are we gonna do?

SAMANTHA:

I'm not sharing a room with him.

MOM:

One of you will sleep on the couch,

and we'll use that blow-up mattress.

SAMANTHA:

How am I supposed to do my laundry?

MOM:

Sam, I'm gently pushing you out of

the nest.

(MORE)

171.

MOM (CONT'D)

And on your way down you may magically

find some quarters that you use to

do laundry in your own apartment.

Come on! You guys are adults. You

need to take some responsibility!

And what do you want?

Mom puts her glasses on.

MASON:

I'm gonna get the veggie burger.

SAMANTHA:

I'm not having anything, not hungry.

Mom takes her glasses off.

MOM:

What's wrong with you?

SAMANTHA:

I'm sick.

MOM:

What is it, your head? Do you have

a fever?

MASON:

She's pregnant.

SAMANTHA:

(weak laugh)

No. To be honest, I drank way too

much last night.

MOM:

You weren't driving, were you?

SAMANTHA:

No. No. Carrie's back home, too,

and we just hung out. You know,

peach Smirnoffs, they just go down

so easy.

MOM:

No, no. Hey - that's not an excuse.

You can still pack boxes. These

people want to move in as soon as

possible.

The assistant restaurant manager, who'll we'll come to know

as ERNESTO, approaches the table.

172.

ERNESTO:

Hi guys. I'm Ernesto, how are you?

(to Mom)

Uh, you probably don't remember me,

but I worked on your septic line

years ago.

MOM:

Oh, yeah.

ERNESTO:

Believe it or not, you changed my

life. Yeah, you told me that day

that I was smart and that I should

go to school. I took your advice!

I signed up for English classes and

then a year later I went to community

college and I got my associates

degree. And I'm working on my

bachelors now at Texas State. And

I'm also one of the managers here.

MOM:

That's great.

ERNESTO:

Uh, it's good to see you. Because I

really wanted a chance to thank you

for that. Gracias. It really meant

a lot to me. Don't worry about lunch.

It's on me. It's the least I can

do.

MOM:

Thanks.

ERNESTO:

You guys should listen to her. She's

a smart lady.

MOM:

Thank you.

Ernesto walks back toward the kitchen, leaving the three

seated at the table.

EXT. APARTMENT - MORNING

Mason, now with a scruffy beard, is wedging a duffel bag and

bin into the bed of his truck. He walks back toward Mom's

new apartment.

173.

INT. APARTMENT - MORNING

Mason is packing a box, in mid-conversation with Mom, who is

seated in another room.

MASON:

...Isn't that kind of crazy though,

that a computer knows who you are

from just twenty questions off a

form? I guess there are really only

like eight types of people in the

world.

Mom goes to the kitchen and pours coffee into a mug.

MASON (CONT'D)

I mean there are subsets, like male

and female, but apparently we're not

as unique as we want to think we

are.

MOM:

Have you even talked to this guy

yet?

MASON:

No, but we've been trading emails.

He seems pretty cool. He's studying

literature, and uh, anthropology,

and he's way into Bright Eyes... so

that's not so bad. But anyways, he

was telling me about how the system

they use for assigning roommates is

kind of spooky. Like, the Freshmen

satisfaction rate for new roommates

used to be like 60%, and now it's

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