Hero Page #12

BERNIE:

Is he here, your friend. The

fireman?

EVELYN:

He had an emergency call... a real

emergency.

BERNIE:

Why doncha let me in so we don't

wake everybody in the

neighborhood?

INT. LIVING ROOM/EVELYN'S HOUSE - MOMENTS LATER

Suburban. Inexpensive furniture. EVELYN and BERNIE ranting...

BERNIE:

Willya lemme talk for Chrissake?

I'm trying to tell you what

happened. What happened is...

EVELYN:

The same thing that always happens!

You blew it!

And this time you broke your son's

heart instead of mine! He was so

proud, looking forward to going to

a movie with his father... and you

let him down! Like you let

everybody down, always! What did

you do, take a mudbath?

ANGLE ON JOEY:

eyes wide, crouched at the top of the staircase in his pyjamas,

spying on his parents in the living room below.

ANGLE ON BERNIE AND EVELYN

BERNIE:

That's what I'm trying to... to...

okay, nevermind. Just lemme talk

to Joey to... to apologize.

EVELYN:

He's in bed! You're not gonna wake

him and make him crazy, do you

understand? He comes home from the

zoo, he wants to know if Elliot's

a "war hero" like you... he wants

to know how many people you

killed...

BERNIE:

"Elliot"? The heroic goddamn

fireman?

EVELYN:

I had to explain your tendancy to

"exaggerate", How you were actually

"in country" all of two weeks and

how you killed about as many people

as the other clerk-typists in your

outfit, no more, no less...

BERNIE:

Three weeks, Ev. I didn't tell him

I killed anybody...

EVELYN:

Maybe not,... but you let him

believe it! And then I gotta

explain about the homeless...

BERNIE:

The homeless!

EVELYN:

How not all of them own apartment

complexes, how not all of them play

the stock market, how not all of

them rent babies when they're

panhandling. He's ten years old,

Bernie! Impressionable!

ANGLE ON JOEY:

Watching from the staircase.

ANGLE ON BERNIE AND EVELYN

BERNIE:

Listen, it's important, Ev, I gotta

see him, I got my reasons, very

goddamn important...

EVELYN:

Use the phone, Bernie, call him

tomorrow, he'd like to hear from

you. Where's your other shoe?

Never mind! I don't want to know.

Some fantastic adventure, right?

Something really crazy.

BERNIE:

I was giving him some advice is all.

Preparing him for life. You don't

want him to grow up soft, Ev, it's

tough out there, it's a goddamn

jungle.

EVELYN:

(firmly, opening the

door)

Back to the jungle, Bernie. Good

night.

EXT. FRONT DOOR/EVELYN'S HOUSE - NIGHT

BERNIE steps out and the door slams hard behind him. He pauses,

sighs, starts toward his car...

EXT./INT. BERNIE'S TOYOTA/PARKED - A MOMENT LATER (NIGHT)

As BERNIE gets in the car he notices the purse sticking out from

under the passenger seat where he hid it. He reaches down,

takes the purse, rummages in it, pulls out the Silver Mike,

glances at it, might be worth something, pockets it moves on

to the wallet, the credit cards, the cash... some hundreds,

fifties', twenties...

INT. LIVING ROOM/EVELYN'S HOUSE - MOMENTS LATER (NIGHT)

EVELYN is shutting off the last of the lights and starting up

the stairs when the doorbell rings. EVELYN scowls. She's

furious.

EXT. FRONT DOOR/EVELYN'S HOUSE - NIGHT

The door opens and EVELYN stands there scowling.

BERNIE holds out a twenty dollar bill.

BERNIE:

Sorry, Ev, to bother you again.

This is for Joey, his reward... for

this wallet he found. When I, uh ,

returned it I told the guy he hadda

give my kid something for finding

it, for the honesty. So the kid

would learn how honestly pays.

Eyes meet. She doesn't believe it for a moment and he knows

it.

BERNIE:

Just give it to him, okay, Ev?

EXT. HIGHWAY - LATER (NIGHT)

An AIRHORN BLARES, a truck thunders past BERNIE, who's pushing

his Toyota to the side of the road, steering one-handed from

outside.

EXT. HIGHWAY - LATER YET (NIGHT)

A blonde GIRL tosses an empty beer can from the window of a

speeding car full of laughing TEENAGERS.

The can clatters to the road beside BERNIE who lowers his

"hitch-hiking thumb" as the car speeds off leaving him alone.

EXT. HEAVY TRAFFIC/FREEWAY - DAWN (HOURS LATER)

Rush hour! Bumper to bumper TRAFFIC oozing toward the city.

We HEAR A VOICE!

BUBBER'S VOICE (O.S.)

You actually went into it? A

burning airplane?

BERNIE'S VOICE (O.S.)

"Into it"! "Into it", for

Chrissake! I was practically living

in the goddamn thing... every time

I turned around, some other person

wants me to save 'em.

Looking for the VOICES, we MOVE IN on a single lane of crawling

traffic and finally FOCUS ON a battered, rusted 76 Chevy with

a crumpled fender, a trunk tied closed and cracked windows...

INT. CHEVY/MOVING/FREEWAY - DAWN

BERNIE is sitting on bare springs and tatters of upholstery in

the passenger seat, muddy, rumpled, weary...

BERNIE:

(continuing)

Couldn't see a f***ing foot in front

of me, smoke... then booooom! It

explodes! I could be dead!

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