Human Desire Page #4

he might have done to me.

Carl?

It doesn't seem to fit somehow.

He has a terrible temper

when he gets jealous.

You saw him tonight, when that

man asked me to dance with him.

Carl's so much older than I am.

Maybe that's it.

I feel sorry for him, but...

He's done things to me I...

I can't even talk about.

I never could talk

about this to anybody.

But I couldn't keep it

inside of me anymore.

I had to talk to

somebody about it.

I'll never be able to thank you

for what you said at the inquest.

(DOOR OPENING)

(DOOR CLOSES)

This is cold.

What's the matter with you?

Every time I go to touch you,

you've got some excuse.

We can't go on living like this.

We're married.

We got our whole life

in front of us.

Oh, Vicki, why can't it be

like it used to be?

Because it can't.

Every time you touch me, I

see you in that compartment,

standing over him, with

a knife in your hand.

Do you think I can forget it?

You killed him.

That ought to satisfy you.

Yeah, it should, shouldn't it?

Now I wonder

if it was worth it.

Well, it's a little

late for that.

(WATER RUNNING)

It would have been better if I'd

never found out about you and Owens.

Vicki, I love you.

You think I can stay in this

house without touching you?

That's the way

it's going to be.

I'm all alone, Vicki,

and I love you.

It's too late for that.

It's not too late.

If you loved me, it wouldn't be too late.

If you really loved me,

you'd destroy that letter.

You don't care about

me at all, do you?

It's that letter.

That's all you're worried about.

If that's the way you want it,

that's the way it's going to be.

If I can't have you, as long

as I've got the letter,

nobody else is going

to have you.

(THUDDING)

(SIGHS)

(TRAIN PASSING)

(HORN BLOWING)

Is Mr. Warren there, please?

When he's on the night shift,

I hardly see him at all.

When he isn't, he comes

home, eats his supper,

and back to Duggan's

and plays cards.

And when he's drunk...

Why did you marry him?

He used to hang around at the cigar

stand at the terminal where I worked.

He was always

so nice and pleasant.

He looked big, solid, decent.

That's what I wanted most,

I guess.

Somebody decent.

You never can tell

about men, can you?

(CHUCKLES)

Well, they say the same thing

about women, you know.

I guess.

Everything's so complicated.

If you let it be.

I wanted a home.

I wanted to belong someplace.

It isn't easy for a girl, drifting

around from one job to another.

After I married,

I felt a little unhappy.

But I figured that

wasn't so important.

Most women are unhappy.

They just pretend they aren't.

That's not true.

Anyway, I didn't mind

so much then.

I mean, when he touched me.

But now, I can't stand it.

Everything turns cold

inside me.

Is it wrong to feel

the way I do?

No.

I don't know what I'm doing

in the same room with him.

I feel lost, alone.

I guess I'm not much

of a woman or a wife,

am I?

Everybody makes mistakes,

the wrong job,

the wrong marriage.

I mean, the army was full of guys who

were real glad to get away from home.

It must be a strange feeling.

What?

To be surrounded by death,

the way a soldier is

during the war.

Well, you don't think

about it after a while.

I mean, you're usually so

cold or hungry or sleepy.

Death, well, it just comes

as sort of an accident.

Is it difficult to kill a man?

I mean, for a soldier.

That's what they give you

medals for.

Why?

I just wondered.

Maybe because of what

I saw on the train.

No, it isn't difficult, Vicki.

It's the easiest thing

in the world.

You make it sound so simple.

Hey, hey, this is some

conversation we're having.

I'm sorry.

It's my fault.

(FOOTSTEPS APPROACHING)

(DOOR CREAKING)

There must be someplace

we can go.

I've got so much

I want to say to you.

We'll find someplace.

Friday I'm going to the city.

Where will you stay?

A girlfriend of mine

has an apartment.

Will you meet me there?

Of course I will.

Okay.

(TRAIN APPROACHING)

Jeff!

Can I come up?

You'll get yourself dirty.

(LAUGHING)

Thank you.

I'm selling tickets

to the Brotherhood dance.

Two dollars, please.

All right.

Now, lets see.

One, two.

Thank you. I wish I could

make this run with you.

My father let me ride with him

once, when I was a little girl,

only then, it was

a steam engine.

And I pretended

I was the engineer.

Did he let you

blow the whistle?

Once. It was so loud,

I started to cry.

I don't anymore, though.

Don't what?

Cry.

Yeah? Well, lets try it

and find out, huh?

Oh! Don't you dare.

Jeff.

Yeah?

Who are you going

to take to the dance?

I don't know yet.

She's very pretty.

Who?

Mrs. Buckley.

What do you know

about Mrs. Buckley?

Intuition, plus a dozen

phone calls.

Are you in love with her?

It's kind of a personal

question, isn't it?

I know it is. Are you?

That's still

a personal question.

Is she going to

leave her husband?

I haven't asked her yet.

When are you going to?

You don't think much

of the idea, do you?

Well, don't forget

about the dance.

That'll remind you

to make up your mind.

About what?

(HORN BLOWS) Hey!

(SOBBING) See? I told you

it wouldn't make me cry.

CONDUCTOR:
All aboard!

(BELL RINGING)

You were out kind of late

last night, weren't you?

I couldn't sleep.

I took a long walk.

You've been taking long walks every

night the last couple of weeks.

What do you want me to do,

punch a time clock?

I was just asking.

This is a small town, Jeff.

People notice things.

Yeah?

You think something's on the quiet,

and it turns out everybody knows.

Stay away from her.

You shouldn't fool around

with a married woman.

It's no good.

It ain't right.

Sunday's my day for sermons.

(BELL RINGING)

(HORN BLOWING)

(JAZZ MUSIC PLAYING)

You've got to leave Carl.

I can't.

Why not?

Because I can't.

(MUSIC STOPS)

Five minutes ago

you said you loved me.

I do.

All right, then,

what are we arguing about?

I mean, we can't go on

meeting this way,

like in a borrowed apartment

or a railroad shack.

That's no good, Vicki.

I want you to marry me.

It's what I want, too.

Then what's stopping you?

I'll explain things to Carl.

You're not chained to him.

I am, Jeff.

What's the matter,

are you scared of him?

No, it isn't that.

Well, I don't get it.

If you're not scared of him, then...

Not of his beating me.

He's done that before.

It's the police, Jeff.

That's what I'm afraid of.

The police?

Because of what happened

on the train.

Well, we'll go to them together.

We'll explain what happened.

How you found Owens,

how you got scared.

Oh, no.

No, I can't do that.

Why can't you? Why?

The day I got Carl

his job back,

that same night,

Carl killed Owens.

I lied to you

about finding the body.

I was there when he killed him,

he forced me to go with him.

What do you mean, forced you?

He thought I was

having an affair with Owens.

Were you?

He was like a wild animal.

He knocked me down and beat me.

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