Infinitely Polar Bear Page #8

INT. KITCHEN. NIGHT

Dirty dishes are piled in the sink and all over the counters.

Cam stares at it in despair.

INT. HALLWAY. DAY

The laundry hamper is overflowing, dirty clothes piled

halfway up the wall. Cam stares at it in despair.

INT. FRONT DOOR. NIGHT

Cam grabs his coat and scarf from the coat-stand.

CAM:

(loudly)

Girls, I’m going out for a couple

of hours. You get some good rest.

I’ll be back before midnight...

No answer from the sleeping girls.

47.

CAM:

...Or after midnight. Love you!

He opens the door, closes it quietly behind him.

EXT. PARKING LOT. NIGHT

Cam steps out into the cool air. He takes a deep breath,

lights a cigarette, and heads out into the night.

INT. DIVE BAR. NIGHT

A bar full of aging professors, shaggy poets and intense

poetesses.

Cam sits at the bar, drinking a can of beer. He has an

animated conversation with two friends. One wears a bow-tie,

horn-rimmed glasses and a tweed jacket; the other wears a

grimy coat and ragged hat. The homeless-looking friend

laughs, revealing no front teeth. Cam gestures to the

bartender, indicating another round.

INT. APARTMENT BUILDING HALLWAY. NIGHT

Cam, drunk and smoking, walks down the long hall to the

corner apartment. He takes out his keys and opens the door.

But it stops; the chain-lock has been fastened.

All the lights in the apartment are on.

CAM:

(pissed off)

Oh, sh*t.

He knocks.

CAM:

Unchain the door, please.

Amelia comes running from the living room, crazy-haired,

wielding a baseball bat.

AMELIA:

Where did you go?

CAM:

Unchain the f***ing door.

AMELIA:

We woke up and you were gone.

Faith was really scared.

48.

Cam grows more irritated.

CAM:

Don’t use the chain. Anyone who

really wants to come in won’t be

stopped by this dinky chain.

As she unchains it:

AMELIA:

It stopped you.

As he enters:

CAM:

I didn’t really want to come in.

INT. APARTMENT. NIGHT

Cam stumbles in and Amelia holds up the telephone receiver,

triumphant.

AMELIA:

Mommy’s on the phone.

CAM:

(bitterly)

Thank you. Thanks a lot.

He reluctantly takes the telephone from her. She walks down

the hall to her bedroom.

CAM:

(to phone)

Hello.

(beat)

Everything’s fine, Maggie. Nobody

is hurt.

(beat)

I told them I was going out, but

they were sleeping! Should I wake

them up every time I want to go

out?

INT. GIRLS’ BEDROOM. NIGHT

Amelia sits down on the bed next to Faith.

FAITH:

She’s going to know he’s doing a

bad job.

49.

AMELIA:

He’s drunk.

FAITH:

Do you think it’s good for Mommy to

know that?

Amelia shrugs.

AMELIA:

She’s coming home a week early.

Faith gasps with excitement and hugs her sister tight.

INT. BATHROOM. NIGHT

Cam opens the medicine chest and takes out his enormous

bottle of lithium. He stares at it for a long time.

EXT. SCHOOL. DAY

The Fiat pulls up in front of the school. Children are

filing in. The girls jump out of the car. Before Amelia

slams the door:

CAM:

Remember, girls. Mommy’s coming

Friday. Let’s make the apartment

nice for her.

AMELIA:

You have to unpack your boxes.

CAM:

(lighting a cigarette)

I’m just saying, we all need to

pitch in --

Both girls look bratty and pissed-off.

AMELIA:

But they’re your boxes...

FAITH:

We don’t know what to do with

them...

AMELIA:

We don’t ask you to clean up our

room...

Cam cannot handle the onslaught of attitude.

50.

CAM:

F*** it, forget it. Have a nice

f***ing day.

Cam puts the Fiat in gear and zooms off, way too fast. The

girls watch him go, stunned and self-conscious, knowing that

the other kids heard.

INT. APARTMENT. DAY

Cam looks at all the boxes. The place is a disaster. He

goes to the window and looks out. It is a beautiful day.

Cam sighs.

CUT TO:

THE RECORD PLAYER

Cam drops the needle on Olatunje’s Drums of Passion. A heavy

rhythmic beat fills the room as he opens up the first box and

pulls out a rusted old machete.

INT. APARTMENT. LATER

The girls enter the apartment. They can’t believe their

eyes. It is spic and span. A large new bookshelf lines the

front hall. They jump up and down like crazy.

FAITH/AMELIA

Daddy! Daddy! Daddy! Daddy!

Cam enters from his bedroom. He wears a grimy, oil-stained

jumpsuit. The girls throw themselves into his arms.

CAM:

Pretty good, right?

FAITH:

It’s beautiful. We love it!

CAM:

Just don’t look in my bedroom.

The girls hurry to his bedroom.

51.

INT. CAM’S BEDROOM. MOMENTS LATER

Cam’s room looks like a garage. Large industrial metal

shelves house paint-thinner, spray paint cans, motor oil,

etc. Stacks of mail and magazines cover the desk and there

are clothes all over the bed. Amelia points at the bed.

AMELIA:

Is that a machete?

FAITH:

We’ll keep this door closed...

She closes the door.

INT. APARTMENT. NIGHT

Spirits are high. Amelia clears the dining room table.

Faith washes the dishes and Cam dries and puts the dishes

away. They sing a World War II marching song.

ALL THREE:

Hitler! Has only got one

ball...Goering! Has two but very

small...Himmler! Has something

sim’lar...But Josef Goebels has no

balls at all...

EXT. TRAIN STATION. NIGHT

Cam and the girls stand on the platform as the train pulls in

to the Station. Cam is trying to untangle some of the

massive snarls in Amelia’s hair. Maggie gets off at the far

end. The girls take off, running for her.

Maggie drops her suitcase and drops to her knees and holds

them tight. Cam walks toward them, smiling. He holds a

bunch of orange gerberas. She accepts them and kisses him on

the cheek. She kisses both girls on the head.

He picks up her suitcase and they walk down the platform.

The girls skip alongside, holding their mother’s hand, happy

to be all together.

INT. APARTMENT. DAY

The family bustles into the apartment. Maggie stops dead

when she sees how cozy and warm it is. She looks at them

with amazement. The girls are gleeful.

52.

MAGGIE:

Who built these shelves?

AMELIA:

Daddy.

Cam looks modest but he is bursting with pride.

CAM:

They’re just shelves.

EXT. PARK. DAY

Faith and Amelia play on the monkey bars. Cam and Maggie sit

on a bench. Maggie looks happy.

MAGGIE:

It was hard to come this weekend.

I’m so glad I did. I think this is

just what you needed, Cam! I think

this is going to be a great thing

for us.

He smiles at her and takes her hand. She smiles back at him.

They sit holding hands as they watch the girls play.

CUT TO:

UNDOING THE APARTMENT MONTAGE

Cam lays out a bunch of newspaper on the living room floor

and goes to work, taking apart an old phone. He walks away

from the tools and parts of the disassembled phone and it

never moves.

CUT TO:

The girls come in with a large hamper of laundry. They dump

it on the sofa and start folding it, but then they run off

and it stays where it is.

Rate this script:4.0 / 2 votes