Dear White People Page #17

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94C Sam sits with arms folded. 94C

DEAN FAIRBANKS (CONT’D)

Samantha. Please.

SAM:

Why am I even here?

CUT TO:

KURT:

94 Guys throw parties at the house all 94

the time.

98.

DEAN FAIRBANKS:

We know you were planning this.

KURT:

Your son tell you that?

CUT TO:

94D Fairbanks stares down his son. Troy is silent and anxious.94D

DEAN FAIRBANKS:

(reading)

“...wishing you could sip on Henny

out yo crunk cup without a B*tch

giving you the side-eye?”

(and then)

You write this Troy?

Troy looks up at his father embarrassed.

TROY:

No. Mine wasn’t chosen.

DEAN FAIRBANKS:

But you wanted to be?

TROY:

What I wanted didn’t matter then.

Why should it matter now? I told

you about the party, remember?

CUT TO:

DEAN FAIRBANKS:

94 The invite came from the Pastiche 94

Facebook account.

KURT:

I loathe Facebook.

An OFFICIAL whispers something in Fairbanks' ear.

KURT (CONT’D)

You’ve got to believe me.

DEAN FAIRBANKS:

You’ve used that line on me before

this year Mr. Fletcher. When a

homophobic message mysteriously

appeared on a voice mail line you

shared with a roommate.

CUT TO:

99.

DEAN FAIRBANKS (CONT’D)

What were your intentions when you

went back the second time?

LIONEL:

To stop it.

DEAN FAIRBANKS:

By any means necessary?

LIONEL:

Someone once told me...Manchester

is like jazz. I don’t know much

about jazz. But from what I can

tell, when your solo’s up, you

better blow.

Fairbanks fights a smile.

CUT TO:

94C SAM 94C

All I did that night was hit record

brother.

The Dean takes a gulp from a glass of water. He stands and

looks out his huge windows onto the campus below.

CUT TO:

94E

The Dean has Facebook opened on his computer. Officials 94E

are taking a break. Drinking water. Discussing the day.

The Dean tries a few passwords.

CUT TO:

94C DEAN FAIRBANKS 94C

Want to hear something strange?

The Dean turns from the window.

DEAN FAIRBANKS (CONT’D)

The Pastiche group page hadn’t been

used for months, until the invite

went out.

CUT TO:

94E

The Dean tries a different password. Still invalid. 94E

CUT TO:

100.

94C SAM 94C

Fascinating.

DEAN FAIRBANKS:

Well what’s interesting is how easy

it was to access the group before

the note was sent. The password was

“Pa$tiche” spelled with a dollar

sign according to Kurt. Seems

recently it’s been changed.

CUT TO:

94E The Dean tries one more. It works. 94E

CUT TO:

94C DEAN FAIRBANKS (CONT’D) 94C

Couldn’t figure it out at first.

Then I thought to try something.

Five, seven, eight, three, five,

twenty six, one, nine, four, six.

Eleven numbers. Just like our

student ID numbers. Just like your

student ID number.

SAM:

As much as you hate him, you will

stop at nothing to protect your

master and his boy.

DEAN FAIRBANKS:

Did you send out the invite Sam?

SAM:

That invite, whoever sent it

should’ve been met with derision

and outrage. Instead, a hundred

people showed up and they pulled

out posters and decorations and

costumes they’d made for just such

an occasion.

Sam and Dean Fairbanks at a stalemate.

Silence falls in the room. The Dean’s mind ticks.

95 EXT. MANCHESTER UNIVERSITY - DAY 95

A pack of EMERALD BUGLE newspapers hit the stand with the

headline:
“INVESTIGATION INCONCLUSIVE! FLETCHER GOES FREE. NO

EXPULSIONS MADE”

101.

Next to it is another stack of papers from the INDEPENDENT

OBSERVER. The headline reads: “EBONY & IVY: CAN THERE BE

HARMONY? BY LIONEL HIGGINS.”

George picks up a copy of the Observer and starts to read...

96 INT. TROY AND LIONEL’S APARTMENT - DAY 96

Lionel flips through his own article as well. A satisfied

grin on his face as a razor makes its way through his hair.

LIONEL:

2 Chainz? Shaft? While endless

complex depictions of whites, white

men in particular exist - there

aren’t that many versions of us in

the culture.

His locks waft towards the ground as Troy styles a fresh and

fearless fro-hawk atop Lionel’s head.

LIONEL (CONT’D)

Culture has a powerful way of

telling people what they can and

can’t be. For people of color the

options are rather limited.

TROY:

Next James Baldwin up in here. Wait

hold on a sec.

Star Trek is back from commercial break. Troy and Lionel

watch in silence.

97 EXT. MANCHESTER UNIVERSITY - DAY 97

Gabe is just about finished with Lionel’s article too. Looks

up just in time to see...

GABE:

Hello Sam.

Sam sneers at his formalities.

GABE (CONT’D)

Read about Armstrong / Parker.

SAM:

Yeah. Prez made an executive

withdrawal. Armstrong stays Black.

GABE:

Congrats?

102.

SAM:

(with a shrug)

Getting too dramatic man. Thinking

about getting an apartment off

campus. We’ll see.

GABE:

Sam going against the grain?

Shocked. How’s papa White?

SAM:

He’s recovering.

GABE:

Good. Well...

Gabe fights the urge to hug her.

SAM:

We were actually on the phone last

night for hours. First time we

talked since the bypass. He was

putting up a strong front. Teasing

me about being so worried. Then

came the stories about me as a

little girl I’d heard a thousand

times. About how independent I was.

Gabe smiles politely. Senses she needs a moment.

GABE:

Want to talk about it?

SAM:

My mother worked nights so he would

take me to school. And it pissed me

off because he would follow me all

the way to homeroom. Every time he

tried to hold my hand I’d scream

and pull away. He thought I was

just being...difficult.

A hint of recognition in Gabe. Is this about them?

SAM (CONT’D)

But it was the kids. And the

parents and the teachers. They’d

see this Black girl and this white

man and wonder what we were doing

together. Even at nine I could feel

their eyes on me. Especially at

nine. It brought tears to my eyes.

Gabe’s stone face melts at this.

103.

SAM (CONT’D)

I was just a bratty girl, didn’t

know any better but-- The thought

of losing him-- You know? I just

feel so bad. How awful am I to do

that to him? To anyone I love?

Gabe gets it. This is an explanation. An apology, to him. His

arm is on her shoulder now.

GABE:

I’m sure he forgives you.

SAM:

Think so?

Gabe nods. Sam’s normal defenses come back up lest she cries.

SAM (CONT’D)

So anyway. I didn’t mean to say all

of that. I don’t know why I did.

GABE:

Sam. Where are you going?

SAM:

I don’t know. Lunch?

Gabe starts to walk with her.

GABE:

Isn’t it Mac and Cheese day at

Armstrong/Parker?

SAM:

Think they’ll let you in?

Gabe smiles. They walk a bit. Then he grabs her hand. Sam

lets the moment happen. Squeezes his back. They look into

each others’ eyes.

Don’t even notice as Reggie and the Bofros pass them by.

98 INT. CONFERENCE ROOM - DAY 98

Coco sits across from Helmut. He’s got his eyes on a Youtube

clip from Sam’s movie featuring Coco.

COCO (YOUTUBE)

I know this may come as a shock,

but they don’t give a f*** about no

Harriet muthafuckin Tubman...

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