Excess Baggage Page #10

Uncle Tom is a hit man?

INT. PERKINS' DISCREET AUTOMOBILE - DAY (RAINING)

Will stares, horrified, at Emily.

EMILY:

Not exactly.

WILL:

Then I wish to hell you'd tell me what "exactly"Uncle Tom is.

EMILY:

Okay, he's a hit man.

Will plunges off the shoulder, through weeds and mud, ontothe feeder road.

EMILY (CONT'D)

Where are you going?

WILL:

I have to make a call.

INT. PHONE BOOTH - DAY (RAINING)

Will listens grimly to Joe's answering machine.

JOE (V.O.)

This is Joe. I'm not here. Leave a message.

Will hangs up.

WILL:

Jesus, Joe, where are you?

INT. JAIL CELL - DAY (MORNING)

Uncle Joe stands at the common phone, amidst the glamourand glitz of a holding cell.

VOICE OVER:

I'm sorry, but the number you have dialed is disconnectedor no longer in service at this time. If you feel you have reachedthis recording in error --

Joe drops the phone into its cradle.

JOE:

Damn. Looks like I'm walking.

A gnarled VISITOR laughs.

VISITOR:

Joe, you miser, why don't you cough up for a cab?

JOE:

Already had to pay the damn fine.

A GUARD clangs the cell door.

GUARD:

This ain't a hotel, you know, Pogue. You going orstaying?

JOE:

I'm going. Hold your britches.

Joe shambles out.

VISITOR:

Damn idiot's going to walk. Crazy assed white sonof a b*tch.

INT. AMADEUS'S VIEWING ROOM - DAY

It truly is a viewing room, in every sense of the word.Amadeus sits in a massive chair, watching a newscaster harass Dan Sims onthe enormous TV screen.

NEWSCASTER (V.O.)

Is it true Emily Hope, daughter of billionaire AmadeusT. Hope the Third, has been missing for three days?

SIMS (V.O.)

No comment.

NEWSCASTER (V.O.)

Is it true the recent grounding of a river bargewas a failed attempt --

Amadeus snaps off the telecast, stares at the dark screen.Thomas rises silently and refills their drinks.

AMADEUS:

Do you relize how embarrassing it is to call a bankpresident and tell him you need one million dollars replaced?

Thomas drops ice in the drinks.

AMADEUS (CONT'D)

Do you realize there are eleven news vans parkedoutside this residence?

Thomas hands Amadeus a drink. Amadeus sips, brooding.

AMADEUS (CONT'D)

Privacy, Thomas, is a rare commodity.

PERKINS:

Amadeus, it's Emily.

AMADEUS:

That's no longer an issue. Someone must take publicresponsibility for this fiasco -- that someone will not be a Hope.She's in Washington?

Perkins nods. Amadeus shakes his head.

AMADEUS (CONT'D)

Please tell me we aren't involving the Bureau inthis.

PERKINS:

It's unconfirmed. It will remain unconfirmed.

AMADEUS:

Is there any way we can --

Amadeus gestures helplessly at the TV.

PERKINS:

Short of killing everyone in the news departments?

Amadeus considers the possibilities --

PERKINS (CONT'D)

No.

Amadeus sighs, strokes one of his Bonsai.

AMADEUS:

They're so perfect. So controlled.

Perkins' face twitches.

PERKINS:

Will you permit me to make an observation, Amadeus?

AMADEUS:

Certainly, Thomas.

PERKINS:

Emily is not a plant.

Amadeus frowns.

PERKINS (CONT'D)

Just an observation.

Amadeus turns the tree to a more complimentary angle.

AMADEUS:

I'm experiencing the strangest emotions, Thomas.Relief. And shame. Because I thought my daughter was dead --

He strokes the moss at the plant's base.

AMADEUS (CONT'D)

-- and the thought was oddly comforting. I supposethat makes me a terrible person.

Perkins doesn't say a word. Amadeus sighs.

AMADEUS (CONT'D)

I don't care how you do it. Shut the circus down.

Thomas nods and heads for the door, leaving -- Thomas turnsto the right.

AMADEUS (CONT'D)

Thomas?

Thomas pauses.

AMADEUS (CONT'D)

My father was rarely present, while I was growingup, yet I didn't terrorize every living soul I came in contact with.

Thomas's eyes are sad in that hard masked face of his.

PERKINS:

I'm not judging you, Amadeus.

AMADEUS:

Aren't you?

PERKINS:

No. Just making an observation.

And Thomas is gone, leaving Amadeus alone in that big, beautiful,perfectly controlled, and very empty room.

INT. JOE'S AUTO PARTS - DAY (RAINING)

If you want to talk grease and engine parts, "Joe's AutoParts" is sacred, if grimy, ground. The phone is RINGING. Uncle Joe, lookingthe worse for his visit with the authorities, not to mention his walk, appearsoutside the window and unlocks the shop door. The answering machine clickson.

JOE (V.O.)

This is Joe. I'm not here. Leave a message.

The door JANGLES as Joe pushes in. The machine beeps. Hestumps across the room to pick up, just as the caller hangs up.

JOE:

I hate it when they do that.

Sighing, he pulls a bottle from under the cash register,takes a long pull, and collapses onto a beat up stool.

INT. POLICE DEPARTMENT - DAY

Dan Sims studies reports, reading each sheet, setting itaside, and wearily going on to the nEXT. He pauses.

SIMS:

Barnaby? You see this DUI report?

Barnaby, at the next desk, glances up.

BARNABY:

You mean that old guy Pogue?

SIMS:

Yeah.

BARNABY:

Sure.

SIMS:

Did it occur to you, this old guy Pogue, who waspulled over in the vicinity of a warehouse that just happens tobelong to a suspect named Pogue, might be a relative?

BARNABY:

Sure.

SIMS:

Sure?

BARNABY:

Yeah, it's his uncle.

SIMS:

His uncle?

BARNABY:

Yeah.

Sims stares ceilingward, praying for patience.

SIMS:

Barnaby, were you going to tell me this?

BARNABY:

Yeah, I probably would have gotten around to it.

Sims struggles into his jacket.

SIMS:

Barnaby, I am really trying to like you.

BARNABY:

We going somewhere?

SIMS:

Yeah, Barnaby, I thought we might pay a visit toMr. Pogue's uncle.

INT. MOTEL #2/ROOM - DAY (RAINING)

Emily comes out of the bathroom, wearing a towel and rubbingher hair with another, smoking a cigarette.

The key rattles and Will stalks in, soaked, halts dead.

EMILY:

Did you get him?

WILL:

Who?

He settles warily into a chair, as far from her as physicallypossible -- by the door.

EMILY:

Whoever it is you keep calling.

WILL:

You take too many damn showers.

She grabs her clothes off the floor and stalks into thebathroom, leaving the door partially ajar.

Will, uncomfortable as hell, tries to ignore flashes offlesh, as she walks back and forth in there, to the accompaniment of zippersand sliding material.

WILL (CONT'D)

Is there really a priest?

EMILY:

The nuns at school used to make us go to church-- which was boring as hell -- so I used to go to confession --to shock the priests. Told 'em I slept with all these army guysand stuff.

WILL:

What's so shocking about that?

EMILY:

I was nine.

She comes out of the bathroom, tosses herself on the bed,sniffs her shirt sleeve, grimaces, shuts her eyes.

EMILY (CONT'D)

God I hate dirty clothes.

WILL:

These priests all believed a nine year old girlwas sleeping with army guys?

EMILY:

I think Father Douglas is the only one who caughton.

She shuts her eyes.

He shuts his eyes.

He puts his feet up on the table.

Shifts. Shifts again. Opens his eyes. Shuts them. Emilyopens her eyes and glares.

EMILY:

If the chair's so god damned uncomfortable, sleepon the bed. Your virtue will remain intact.

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