Four Rooms Page #20

Hello? Hi. You don't know me, and I don't know you, but

. . . do you have any needles? We've got needles here and

I was wondering if they come with the room or not. Don't

have any? Thanks. Just checking.

She hangs up.

Juancho puts down his champagne glass and searches his father's coat

pocket. He finds a pack of cigarettes and takes one out. He puts it in his

mouth and pretends to smoke.

Sarah checks out the hypodermic needle carefully. She has an idea.

MONTAGE:

In the bathroom, Sarah seeks out her mother's lipstick.

ROOM 716

Sarah stands atop the chest of drawers and uses the lipstick to draw a

bull's-eye on one of the hotel art paintings. She writes numbers next to

each circle representing points.

Juancho is standing at the foot of the bed, cigarette hanging out of his

mouth, as he practices his dart-throwing technique.

SARAH:

(pointing out the rules)

The center is the bull's eye, 100 points, this one's 10

points, this one's 20 points.

WHACK! The needle lands an inch from her face in the 20-point slot.

SARAH:

Hey, wait a minute. Let me get out of the way!

Sarah, a little tipsy now, grabs the needle and staggers to the bed. She

hears the key in the doorway and throws the needle into the curtain to hide

it.

Ted enters the room, somewhat disheveled from his encounter with Sigfried.

He has a tray and a new bottle of champagne.

He puts the champagne bottle into the empty bucket. He spots the original

bottle lying on the floor half empty and dripping into the carpet.

TED:

I brought you some milk and cookies. If you want some you

have to eat them now, because you're going to sleep.

SARAH:

We're going to sleep now?

TED:

Your parents said put you to bed before midnight. Well, it's

before midnight. Maybe that way you'll leave me alone.

SARAH:

Those aren't milk and cookies.

TED:

We were out of cookies, so I brought you milk and Saltines.

Don't complain! Now hurry up and eat. You're going to bed

right now.

Juancho bites into a Saltine. Sarah simply examines one.

JUANCHO:

These are old.

SARAH:

They're stale.

TED:

(impatient)

Dip 'em in the milk! The milk will make them soft.

Sarah gives up and throws the cracker back onto the tray. She's a little

drunk.

Ted picks up the ruined champagne bottle.

Juancho dips his crackers and eats them. He makes a face and drops a soggy

cracker onto the tray.

TED:

No crackers? Okay, fine. Sleepy time. Now, I don't want

you guys wandering around, so if you need to go to the

restroom, go now.

They go to the bathroom. Ted sits on the bed. Waits.

He sees the painting on the wall but can't figure out what's different

about it. The red lipstick blends right into the aesthetic value of the

painting.

Ted smells something funny. He looks down and sees the socks on the bed. He

grabs a fork from the tray and uses it to throw the socks across the room.

The kids come back out.

JUANCHO:

What about our pajamas?

TED:

You wanna look nice in case there's an earthquake,

don'tcha?

The children nod.

TED:

Okay. Then stay in those clothes.

The kids lie on the bed.

Sarah notices a jar of Mentholatum ointment on the dinner tray.

SARAH:

What's that?

TED:

Oh, this is just some Mentholatum ointment. Come on,

under the covers. Close your eyes and I'll tell you a story.

The children close their eyes. Ted opens the jar of the ointment and sniffs

it. Strong stuff by the look on his face.

TED:

Your dad says he doesn't trust babysitters. I don't blame

him. You know what my babysitter did to me once?

(confiding)

I never told my parents, either.

The children lie in the bed, eyes closed, listening intently.

Tep dips his fingers in the jar of vaporous ointment.

TED:

I hated going to sleep. You know, it's nighttime and you

wanna run around and act crazy. So what my babysitter

did to make sure I'd go to sleep and not be tempted to get

up, was, she'd take some of this vapor rub stuff . . . Can

you smell this?

Eyes closed, the kids inhale. They smell the ointment and nod yes.

TED:

Well, she'd just dab a little of this over each eyelid, so that

I would be sure and keep my eyes closed all night.

Ted is spreading the ointment over their eyelids as he says this.

TED:

There. Now you've got some, too! Don't open your eyes or

it'll burrrn, burn, burn. The smell helps clear your sinuses

too, so it's doing double duty.

JUANCHO:

What happens when it's morning?

TED:

If you keep your eyes closed all night, it will wear off by

morning. But DON'T OPEN YOUR EYES BEFORE

THAT . . . .

SARAH:

Did you ever open your eyes?

Extreme CLOSE-UP on Ted's eyes.

TED:

Yes . . . I did.

The children are quiet.

TED:

And now look at me.

CHILDREN:

(in unison)

We can't.

TED:

Good. You'll do just fine. Sleep well and I won't tell your

parents about the champagne.

Ted leaves.

CUT TO:

AFTER A MOMENT OF DARKNESS

After a moment of darkness, the night is disturbed by the loud crashing of

fireworks outside the window.

Sarah sits up, eyes closed. Her face feels the warmth coming from the

window and she tilts her head toward it.

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