Human Desire Page #5

He called me names.

He said I only married

him because I had to.

(CRYING) He hit me again and

again and again and then,

he made me write

a letter to Owens,

saying I'd meet

him on the train.

I didn't know what

he was going to do.

He forced me to get

on the train with him.

He pushed me into Owens'

compartment, closed the door.

Why didn't you scream

or ring for help?

He threatened to kill

me, too, if I did.

Why didn't you

tell me the truth, Vicki?

Carl has the letter I wrote.

If he ever showed

it to anybody, the police,

they'd think I did it.

That's what

he's holding over me.

That's why I can't leave him.

That's why I had to lie to you.

Jeff. Jeff, if you knew

what I've lived through...

(SIGHING)

Look, I want

the whole truth, Vicki,

because if I don't go

to the police now,

I'll be just as guilty

as Carl is or you are.

Jeff!

It's what you wanted, isn't it?

You had to tell me about

the murder, didn't you?

You had to tell me,

because once I knew about it,

I'd be in it just as deep

as you are.

Oh, no!

That's not true!

Isn't it?

Jeff! Where are you going?

(CRYING)

Carl must have known something about

you and Owens to feel the way he did.

I'll tell you.

Carl's always been jealous

of Owens.

I'll tell you everything.

I grew up in his house.

Carl knew all this, but he

had this insane jealousy.

He'd imagine the most awful

things about me and Owens.

And then he'd beat me and beat me

until I'd admit they were true.

So I'd admit them.

He did horrible things.

They weren't true, Jeff! They weren't true!

(CRYING)

If Carl was so jealous, why did he

send you to Owens to get his job back?

He begged me to see him.

He pleaded with me.

He wanted that job more

than anything in the world.

I didn't want to go to him.

I knew Carl would

only resent it later.

Oh, Jeff!

(SOBBING)

Oh, Jeff.

I was so afraid you'd go.

There's nothing for you to be

afraid of, 'cause I'm not going.

Oh, if only I were free.

We'll work things out somehow.

(BELL RINGING)

(BRAKES SCREECHING)

(RINGING STOPS)

(PHONE RINGING)

(KNOCKING ON DOOR)

Yeah?

ELLEN:
There's a call.

Mrs. Buckley.

Tell her I'll call back later.

ELLEN:
Mrs. Buckley, Mr.

Warren will call you back later.

Is there something wrong?

No.

What happened to those things you said you

wanted when you came home from the Army?

What did I say I wanted?

A job, some fishing,

a night at the movies.

Did I say that?

Yes.

Sounds like a nice, quiet,

orderly life, doesn't it?

That's what you wanted.

You said I left something out.

You said I needed a girl.

I said you needed

the right girl.

How do you tell the right girl

for you from the wrong one?

By the way you love her.

That sounds like the answer.

And I wonder if it is.

I don't know too much

about the kind of love

that makes people

hurt one another.

I don't think I want to know.

But I do know there are

other kinds of love

and they're not

so hard to find.

All you have to do

is look for them.

Carl's been fired.

He's selling the house and

we're leaving town tomorrow.

He says I've got

to go with him.

You're not going anywhere,

'cause I won't let you.

I don't want to go.

But there's nothing

else for us to do.

Not as long as

he has that letter.

I've looked everywhere

and I couldn't find it.

He must keep it with him.

Well, he wouldn't go

to the police with it.

He wouldn't want to

get himself involved.

You don't understand him, Jeff.

He's not thinking straight.

He's all twisted up inside.

You want that letter,

I'll get it for you.

If he finds out about

us, he'll kill me.

All right, then

what do you want to do?

What is there to do?

Say goodbye to each other.

I'll go with Carl

and when I can't bear the sight

of him any longer I'll...

(INHALES)

That's not the answer.

You'll forget me.

No.

(CRYING) It's no use.

There was nothing for us to look forward

to even if I weren't going away.

Now, it doesn't have

to be that way.

Yes, Jeff,

that's how it has to be.

We weren't meant to be happy.

It won't be as

difficult for you.

At least you'll be free.

If I had met you long ago, everything

would have been different.

But now it's too late.

It's always too late, isn't it?

No, it isn't.

It isn't too late.

If only we'd been luckier,

if something had happened

to him in the yards...

Where's Carl now?

Where he usually is,

at Duggan's.

(JAZZ MUSIC PLAYING

ON JUKEBOX)

(VEHICLE APPROACHING)

(TRAIN APPROACHING)

(DOOR OPENING)

I didn't do it.

Why not?

Maybe because he was drunk.

Because he fell.

I picked him up and took him

over to the dispatcher's office.

They're trying to sober

him up with coffee now.

He even thought

I was trying to help him.

You couldn't kill him.

You tried and you couldn't.

It's all wrong, Vicki.

The whole thing's been

wrong from the beginning.

And I feel dirty.

You feel?

Your conscience didn't stop you

from making love to me, did it?

It didn't bother you

when I was in your arms.

What about your feelings then?

I guess it's only

people like Carl

who can kill

for something they love.

I'd have done anything for you.

Except that.

Yes.

Yes, except that.

You've killed before.

Before?

Oh, the war, huh?

I'd almost forgot.

You thought I could do it

because of that, huh?

Well, there's a difference.

In the war,

you fire into the darkness,

something moving on a ridge,

a position, a uniform,

an enemy.

But a man coming home,

helpless, drunk...

That takes a different

kind of killing.

Yes, and a different

kind of a man.

That's right.

It takes somebody who doesn't

think about anything but himself.

It takes somebody who has no

conscience and no decency.

First, you had to get me to keep my

mouth shut at the inquest, didn't you?

A couple of lies

took care of that.

Then I fell in love with you

and you were sure of me.

And then all it took was a little

push to get me to kill Carl.

You never loved me.

No, it's not true.

It's not true.

I love you. No matter what I

said or did, that's the truth!

That's the lie.

You never told me the truth about anything.

Not even about Owens, did you?

Why don't you say it?

Carl did.

I'm no good.

I'll tell you exactly

how no good I am.

My mother worked for Owens.

He had a big house

outside town.

His wife had been

sick for years.

I was 16 when one day

he came down to the pool

and found me swimming.

He hadn't paid much

attention to me before.

But when he did,

I was too frightened

to say anything.

I tried to run away.

I tried to escape.

And then later,

when I married Carl,

I thought it was all

over and done with.

But when Carl found out,

all he could see

was his own jealousy.

All he could think of was killing Owens

and chaining me to him with that letter.

I thought it would be

different with you, Jeff,

that you'd trust

someone you loved.

I can't tell anymore whether you're

lying or not and I don't care,

because it's finished.

You don't mean that, Jeff.

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