First They Killed My Father Page #10

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42.

INT. RO LEAP HUT - 6 AM

KIM:

Pa, someone was in the container

last night.

Pa checks the container. He considers-

PA:

Maybe some rats got into it.

Pa wraps it up tight and moves it higher.

Pa looks at Loung. Shame burns her hand like a hot iron. As

if to rescue her, Geak wakes up and her cries of hunger

interrupt the incident. The guilt weighs heavily on Loung.

EXT. RO LEAP HUT - 6:10 AM

Loung keeps to herself washing food bowls in a bucket in

front of the hut.

Geak walks up to Loung and tugs at her clothes. Loung gently

pushes her away. Geak tries again. She wants Loung to pick

her up. Loung moves away from Geak.

Pa walks out of the hut on his way to work.

Chou comes over to help Loung. Kim walks by and intentionally

knocks against Loung as he passes on his way to work. She

looks up and he gives her a look. He knows.

Loung’s lips quiver with shame. Chou grabs her hand.

EXT. RO LEAP - EARLY MORNING

Loung and Chou walk in line with others towards the garden.

43.

INT. RO LEAP HUT - NIGHT

That night, Loung stares at Ma as she boils water for tea.

She remembers that Ma used to be so beautiful. Now red lips

are purple and dry, her cheeks are sunken, there are deep

shadows under her eyes, her porcelain white skin is brown and

wrinkled from the sun. Loung looks into her tea.

EXT. RO LEAP - EARLY MORNING

A beautiful orange sun rises.

EXT. RO LEAP HUT - EARLY MORNING

DRY SEASON BEFORE MONSOON #2

Early morning as everyone gets ready to report for work.

Loung and Chou return to the hut with the water buckets. Ma

sits on the porch combing Geak’s hair and looking for lice.

She washes her when the water arrives.

Loung watches Pa head out to work. A GIRL arrives in the

village. She shows her pass to a chlop. She speaks to some

people and is guided towards the Loung’s family hut.

Loung watches as she comes closer. She seems concerned.

GIRL:

I’ve come with a message from

Comrade Keav.

The family gathers to listen. Ma shifts Geak on her hip.

44.

GIRL (CONT’D)

She has been sick. You are

permitted to visit.

OMITTED:

EXT. RO LEAP - MORNING

Chou is left home with Geak. Loung watches Ma put the slip in

her pocket as she leads them toward the road.

INT. RUN DOWN HOSPITAL - DAY

Ma guides Loung into the (pagoda or school turned into a

makeshift-) hospital. The sounds of suffering overwhelm her.

The room is full of patients. Most alone. One young boy

already dead.

Loung is just tall enough to see over the beds. She notices

coke bottles used as IV drips.

Splatter of blood on the floor catches Loung’s attention. A

nurse pushes past her. Across the room Loung recognizes Keav.

Loung is almost too afraid to walk forward.

When Loung and Ma appear they see there seems to be no flesh

left on Keav's body. Keav's eyes are sunken deep into their

sockets, and she can hardly open them to look at her. When

she first sees Ma she does not recognize her. Keav wheezes

and gasps for air just from trying to talk to her. Ma breaks

down and weeps.

Keav keeps asking for Pa. She is so weak she cannot raise her

hand to wave the (CG) flies away from her face. She is so

dirty. They didn't even clean up her mess up. They just let

her lie there in her sickness and dirty sheets. Ma gets upset

and tries to help clean her. Loung looks to her sister. The

sight of her is terrifying.

EXT. RO LEAP GARDEN - DAY

Days later. Clouds in the sky. (Land is wet from 167-172,

sometimes rain). Loung and Chou work the land.

45.

Loung sees the GIRL who came with a message about Keav. She

watches from a distance as she is led to Ma in the fields.

Loung looks on as her mother notices the girl and braces

herself for the news.

We can tell from the body language that Keav has died. With

the KR watching neither Ma nor Loung or Chou can express

their grief.

INT. RO LEAP HUT - NIGHT

The hut is silent. Grief hangs heavy. Ma quietly making tea.

Pa sitting alone. (Possibly carving for Chou, Loung and Kim)

Loung and Chou whisper before bed.

LOUNG:

What happens when people die?

CHOU:

First they sleep peacefully not

knowing they are dead. They sleep

for three days and then on the

third day they wake up. That’s when

they realize they are dead. Then

they walk to a river, wash the dirt

off their bodies, and start their

journey to heaven to wait for their

next life.

LOUNG:

When will they come back?

CHOU:

I don’t know.

LOUNG:

I hope she won’t come back here.

EXT. RO LEAP STREAM - DAY

Chou and Loung are at the stream doing laundry. They are

surrounded by other girls doing the same. No splashing or

laughter now. Only silence. Like Loung and Chou, the children

are so starved they hardly have the energy to wash the

clothes.

45A.

EXT. RO LEAP - DAY

BEFORE DRY SEASON.

Base children play. Loung feels hate for them.

46.

The air is hotter and drier now. Time passes slowly. Loung

and Chou eat lunch huddled together. The food rations have

reduced even more.

The man with the Birthmark (who was tied to the tree) is

speaking with a Chlop. Loung notices as they give Pa a look.

Pa lowers his head.

LOUNG:

I’m going to kill them one day.

She looks back and sees Chou smiling to herself.

LOUNG (CONT’D)

You don’t think I can? I can.

CHOU:

(simply)

I don’t want you to. I don’t want

anyone to kill (hurt) anyone.

Chou looks sad.

INT. RO LEAP HUT - NIGHT

MA:

(panicked)

How would they know?

Lying on her back next to Chou and Kim, Loung pretends to be

asleep.

PA:

Someone probably denounced me.

MA:

How is it possible? We hid our

names. Everything.

Loung rolls over to her side. Ma and Pa become quiet, waiting

for her to go back to sleep. Staring at Kim's back, Loung

forces herself to breathe regularly. Pa whispers something we

can not hear.

MA (CONT’D)

(whispering)

No. Please. They are too young.

They cannot defend themselves.

Pa takes a deep breath.

PA:

Not now then, but soon.

46A.

Geak kicks and moans in her sleep. Ma picks her up and puts

her down between Pa and herself. Loung rolls over once more,

this time facing Chou's back. She spies Ma and Pa asleep

facing each other on their sides with Geak in the middle,

their hands touching above Geak's head.

EXT. RO LEAP HUT - LATE DAY

The next evening, while sitting with Kim outside on the steps

of their hut (sweeping). Loung looks out at the camp, and up

to the sky. When Loung focuses her eyes back on the earth,

she sees two men in black walking towards her with their

rifles casually hanging on their backs.

47.

KHMER ROUGE WITH RIFLE

Is Comrade Nath here?

KIM:

Yes comrade.

Pa hears them and comes out of the hut, his body rigid as our

family gathers around him.

PA:

Comrades, what can I do for you?

KHMER ROUGE WITH RIFLE

We need your help to repair the

bridge near Prey Svay. Come with us

Comrade.

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