Gattaca Page #23

JEROME:

So sure of what you can't do. Do you even

know what it tastes like, Irene?

Irene goes to deny it but cannot.

MICHAEL suddenly approaches the table with a WAITER in tow.

Irene is about to steal a taste of the dessert with her finger

when their plates and glasses are whisked away and the table

immediately hoovered. Michael whispers in Jerome's ear.

MICHAEL:

Take the side door.

Jerome looks up in time to see DETECTIVE HUGO coming through the

front entrance with several other DETECTIVES.

DETECTIVE:

(to his colleagues)

Check for lenses, hairpieces--

A Detective shines a flashlight in the eyes of a MALE PATRON.

A SECOND DETECTIVE tugs the hair of a SECOND PATRON. Jerome

takes Irene by the hand and escorts her out of the side exit.

Several other COUPLES make for the parking lot.

IRENE:

Why are we leaving?

JEROME:

(attempting to explain the hasty exit)

Those checks take forever.

EXT. MICHAEL'S CLUB - SIDE ALLEY. NIGHT.

Spilling out of the exit, JEROME and IRENE find a burly

plain clothes DETECTIVE barring their way. Before the Detective

can say a word, Jerome has wrapped his fist in his jacket sleeve

and smashed him in the face. He continues to beat the Detective

until he lies motionless on the ground.

IRENE:

(stunned)

Jerome!

Spying other Detectives some distance away in the parking lot.

Jerome leads Irene out of a hidden side gate.

IRENE:

What about the car?

JEROME:

(grabbing her by the hand)

Let's walk.

IRENE:

Who are they?

JEROME:

(holding his bruised knuckles)

It's not safe. I shouldn't have brought you here.

Jerome drags Irene across a vast, desolate lot, lit only by

moonlight. Feeling exposed, he breaks into a run.

IRENE:

I can't.

JEROME:

(anxious)

Come on.

IRENE:

My medication. I left it back there.

JEROME:

We'll get it later.

(forcing her to look him in the eye)

Irene, please.

Irene realizes his seriousness. She begins to run with him.

The clearing is wider than Jerome anticipated. They are only

halfway across - extremely vulnerable if the Detective think yo

look in their direction.

INT. MICHAEL'S. NIGHT.

The INVESTIGATOR is grilling MICHAEL, the club's owner. The

investigator suspiciously regards the multitude of mini-vacs in

the kitchen and the incinerator burning the refuse.

INVESTIGATOR:

(an accusing tone)

You run a clean establishment.

MICHAEL:

Are you a health inspector?

INVESTIGATOR:

(showing Vincent's mugshot)

Do you recognize this man?

MICHAEL:

My eyes aren't so good.

INVESTIGATOR:

I bet.

Hugo calls out from the side door where he has discovered

his fallen colleague.

HUGO:

Sir.

The Investigator hurries to him.

INVESTIGATOR:

(to the still dazed Detective,

examining his injuries)

Did he hit you with his fist?

DETECTIVE:

(head in his hands)

More like a hammer.

INVESTIGATOR:

(reprimanding the beaten Detective)

Don't touch your face. Don't swallow.

Don't spit.

(to Hugo)

Quick, clean his teeth.

Hugo uses a flashlight and a small dental-like implement to try

to pick skin from Jerome's knuckles from between the Detective's

teeth. The Investigator finds the hidden side door.

EXT. DESOLATE LOT. NIGHT.

JEROME and IRENE continue to sprint across the enormous vacant

lot in the moonlight, splashing through deposits of mud and

water. Just as the gate opens in the distance, Jerome hurls

Irene into the safety of the undergrowth on the other side.

Irene, out of breath, desperately feels for her pulse.

IRENE:

(upset, a strangled protest)

Are you trying to kill me? Are you?!

Don't you understand, I can't do that!

Jerome tenderly removes Irene's hand from her pulse.

JEROME:

You just did.

Irene looks back across the vast clearing they have just

negotiated, realizing what she has just done.

From across the other side of the clearing comes an echoing

cry from the center FIGURE.

INVESTIGATOR (OC)

Vincent! Vincent!

EXT. MICHAEL'S. NIGHT.

The INVESTIGATOR is about to cry out Vincent's name once again

when he realizes DETECTIVE HUGO and the other DETECTIVES are

watching him, askance.

INVESTIGATOR:

(to Hugo, covering his frustration)

What are you waiting for?

DETECTIVE HUGO:

Where do we start?

INVESTIGATOR:

We'll vacuum these streets if we have to.

DETECTIVE:

(handing the Investigator Irene's pill box)

We caught them trying to flush these, Sir.

The Investigator carefully examines the heart pills.

EXT. IRENE'S APARTMENT. NIGHT.

JEROME walks IRENE to the steps of her apartment. Jerome thinks

about departing but Irene takes him gently by the hand.

IRENE:

So sure of what you can't do.

Jerome follows her inside.

INT. IRENE'S BEDROOM. NIGHT.

JEROME and IRENE climb a staircase to her bedroom. Without

another word they begin to make love.

LATER THAT NIGHT, JEROME cannot sleep. He rises quietly so as

not to disturb IRENE. He silently opens the double-windows of

the upstairs bedroom. He carefully gathers his pillow from the

bed and shakes it out of the window.

Slowly Jerome turns to gaze at the wood floor. In the moonlight

we see an EXTREME CLOSE UP of a single hair lying on the

floorboards. Jerome bends and picks up the hair, trying to

identify it in the dim light. On his hands and knees he tries

to clean the floor with a towel. Irene turns over in the

bed. Jerome freezes but she continues to sleep. He realizes he

may be spreading even more of his skin and hair over the floor.

Overcome with frustration and the enormity of his task, he

begins to quietly weep.

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