Infinitely Polar Bear Page #12

He looks up. At the end of the hall his daughters stand in

their nightgowns and look at him silently, mournfully. The

elevator door opens. We can still hear the dog barking.

He gives them the finger. Charges onto the elevator.

INT. ELEVATOR. NIGHT

Cam is agitated. He runs his hands through his hair. He

punches the wall.

INT. LOBBY. NIGHT

Ruth-Ann waits for the elevator. The door opens to reveal

Cam, sitting dejected on the floor. She hesitates.

RUTH-ANN

Going up?

CAM:

(defeated)

I guess so.

INT. HALLWAY. NIGHT

Cam walks back down the hall to the apartment. He unlocks

the door, but the chain is up. It stops him. He sighs with

frustration, then hurls his shoulder into the door, busting

the chain and sending the door smashing open.

The girls scream, alarmed, and jump to their feet. Amelia

holds a baseball bat, Faith holds a cricket bat. Then they

see it’s him.

INT. APARTMENT. CONTINUOUS

Cam walks in. As he lights a cigarette:

73.

CAM:

(worn-down)

You see, girls? That chain is

worthless. The only thing it

provides is a false sense of

security, and that’s the last thing

you girls need.

He hugs them and they hug him back.

AMELIA:

We’ll be braver, Daddy, I promise.

Next time we’ll be braver.

He nods and heads back toward the kitchen.

CUT TO:

Cam cleans up the bowl and its contents that are spilled all

over the wall and floor.

CUT TO:

Cam replaces the chain on the door with a deadbolt lock.

INT. APARTMENT. NIGHT

Cam lies on the sofa, watching TV, drinking a beer, smoking.

He flips through the channels. He finishes the beer and

crumples it. It joins four other crumpled cans. He reaches

for another. He looks depressed.

INT. VALIANT. DAY

Cam, rumpled and low-energy, sits behind the wheel. The

girls sit in the back seat. As Maggie gets in the car, she

sees that Cam has a huge bandage that covers his entire hand

and forearm. It looks like a giant q-tip.

MAGGIE:

Cam, what happened?

CAM:

What? Oh. Broke up a dog fight.

Stupid.

(beat)

We had to give Jock away.

74.

EXT. APARTMENT BUILDING. DAY

The swimming pool is being filled. All the kids in the

building stand outside the chain link fence watching with

excitement.

INT. VALIANT. DAY

Cam, still low-energy, waits in the car. Maggie opens the

door. The bandages on his hand are gone.

MAGGIE:

The girls didn’t want to come?

CAM:

It got old.

INT. APARTMENT. DAY

Maggie carries her suitcase over to the sofa in the living

room. She surveys the messy room, which now has a mini-

trampoline in the middle of the rug. She stares at the mini-

trampoline, incredulous. Faith runs in.

FAITH:

Look what we found in the trash!

Faith happily starts jumping up and down on it, doing splits

in the air.

INT. KITCHEN. DAY

Cam stands at the open fridge, staring into it, uninspired.

Amelia and Faith, wearing bathing suits, charge into the

kitchen full of energy. Amelia grabs bread, peanut butter,

jam and milk. Faith hops up on the counter and pulls down

two glasses, two plates. Amelia slaps together two

sandwiches and Faith pours two glasses of milk. The girls

leave the kitchen, each gingerly carrying a plate and a very

full glass of milk. Cam still stares into the fridge.

EXT. TRAIN STATION. DAY

Cam waits in the car double-parked. He is driving a red

Toyota station wagon with one gray door. Maggie is confused

as she gets into the car.

MAGGIE:

What happened to the Valiant?

75.

CAM:

Didn’t I tell you? It caught on

fire.

EXT. APARTMENT BUILDING. DAY

The swimming pool is being drained. Amelia, Faith, Kim, Ali

and Thurgood stand outside the chain link fence with their

bicycles, watching sadly as a tarp is pulled over it. After

a few moments, they hop on their bikes and pedal away.

EXT. STREET. DAY

September. Amelia and Faith walk to school in a large and

lively group of children, all wearing big backpacks.

INT. LIVING ROOM. DAY

Cam sits in his red armchair, watching TV, smoking. He is

unshaven and unkempt. He wears tube socks, a red smoking

jacket and tight tennis shorts. Amelia marches in and tapes

a sign on the TV screen that reads “SMOKING SUCKS AND THEN

YOU DIE!” Faith tapes one underneath with a picture of a big

black lung that says: “DEAD SMOKER’S ACTUAL LUNG!”

Cam stares blankly at the signs taped to the television. He

does not stop smoking. Then:

CAM:

I’m depressed.

Amelia sits down on the floor and starts tying her sneakers.

AMELIA:

Of course you are. Your family

gives you just barely enough money

to live on, you can’t hold down a

job, and you annoy people.

CAM:

You left out my hemorrhoids.

FAITH:

(to Amelia)

Where are you going?

AMELIA:

Out. I’m meeting Kim and Ali.

FAITH:

Can I come?

76.

AMELIA:

(half-hearted)

I guess.

CAM:

Can I come?

AMELIA/FAITH

(outraged)

No! God! We’re going to hang out

with our friends!

CAM:

How come you never invite your

friends over here?

FAITH:

To this shithole?

CAM:

Stop saying that.

FAITH:

Daddy, you can’t hang around with

kids. It’s weird.

AMELIA:

We need to have our own lives. And

you need your own life -

CAM:

How am I supposed to have my own

life when you won’t let me do

anything -

They leave, slamming the door.

INT. HALLWAY. MOMENTS LATER

Amelia and Faith wait by the elevator. Cam opens the

apartment door and stands at the end of the hall, looking at

them mournfully. They are both furious. They look away.

They look back. He is still staring at them. They exchange

a look. They are pained by his misery. Finally, they

relent:

AMELIA:

Fine. We’re hanging out at the

picnic tables.

The elevator doors open. The girls get on.

77.

EXT. CONCRETE PARK. DAY

Kim, Ali and Thurgood sit at the metal picnic tables. Faith

and Amelia are across from them. Amelia has her Tarot cards

and she is doing a Tarot reading. She flips a card.

AMELIA:

The Death card.

KIM:

Does that mean I’m going to die?

AMELIA:

Not necessarily...

Cam stands at the end of the table, digging stuff out of his

pockets, looking for matches.

CAM:

Any of you kids got a light?

Amelia and Faith shoot him a withering look. Amelia starts

gathering her Tarot cards.

AMELIA:

(to Kim)

Can we finish this at your

apartment?

KIM:

Our parents don’t want us to have

anyone over. We just got a new

sectional.

Amelia looks at Thurgood who shakes his head.

THURGOOD:

My older brother is studying for

law school -- he freaks out if

there’s kid noise.

CAM:

You’re all welcome to come over to

our apartment...

Faith and Amelia look at each other, furious. They both

glare at him.

AMELIA:

Cam, can we speak to you for a

minute?

Faith and Amelia pull him aside, away from the other kids.

Cam looks uneasy.

78.

AMELIA:

I am about to lose my sh*t. We

said you could come hang out with

us. We did not say you could

invite people into the apartment.

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