Inventing the Abbotts Page #11

60.

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JACEY:

We weren't in love, we were in

heat.

Alice blushes.

JACEY:

Did you love Peter?

No.

ALICE:

JACEY:

Then why did you marry him?

Because...

ALICE:

92 EXT. RIVERPOINT PARK - ROAD - LATER THAT DAY 92

Jacey holds open the driver's door as Alice climbs inbehind the wheel (of her mother's Town & Country stationwagon). He closes the door.

JACEY:

Which tooth was it?

She points to a front tooth.

it.

He leans over to look at

ALICE:

This one. I had it capped.

can't really tell, can you?

You

No.

JACEY:

It's a beautiful mouth.

ALICE:

Are you going to kiss me?

JACEY:

I don't want to scare you.

ALICE:

I can't see you again, Jacey.

Sure you can.

JACEY:

There are ways.

ALICE:

Oh, God... why you? Why am Itelling all these things to you?

(CONTINUED)

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JACEY:

Because there's no one else youcan tell them to. Because I'm the

only person you know who willadmit to your face that yourfather's a bag of sh*t. The

biggest bag of sh*t in this town.

(slight beat)

Better head home. Shouldn't be

gone too long.

Alice drives away. Jacey smiles -- he's won.

93 EXT. ROAD (OUTSIDE HALEY) - DAY (SHORT TIME LATER) 93

The Plymouth cruises back toward town. Jacey drinks abottle of beer and happily contemplates the possibilitiesof a relationship with Alice. He approaches a billboardthat reads: "MIDWEST STEEL DESK, INC. -- Welcomes You to

Haley, Illinois."

Jacey drains the last of the beer and hurls the emptybottle at the billboard as he drives past it.

94 EXT. ABANDONED FARMHOUSE - DAY (WEEKS LATER -

LATE AFTERNOON)

94

Pam's convertible is parked in a weed-choked yard. Pam

and Doug hurl rocks at the windows, trying to break whatis left of the shattered windows on the weather-beaten,

two-story farmhouse.

PAMELA:

Who do you look like more, yourfather or your mother?

DOUG:

Hell, I don't know.

PAMELA:

Well, what did your father looklike?

DOUG:

Like a photograph. I never knew

him. He died like a month before

I was even born. Jacey probablylooks more like him than I do.

Jacey's named after him. That's

how he got to be called 'Jacey,'

after his initials, John Charles,

J.C.

(CONTINUED)

62.

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PAMELA:

He died in a car wreck, right?

DOUG:

You never heard about that?

About what?

PAMELA:

DOUG:

Well, it was sort of a car wreck.

He drowned, or froze to death, or

both, I don't know. He was tryingto drive out to Mud Island.

PAMELA:

Mud Island's in the middle of the

lake.

DOUG:

It was winter time, the lake was

froze over.

PAMELA:

Jesus, that's pretty stupid.

(catches herself)

Sorry.

DOUG:

It's all right, it is stupid.

Real stupid. He did it on a bet.

He bet someone twenty bucks thathe could do it. He made it all

the way out there, too. He went

through the ice on his way back.

95 EXT. ABANDONED FARMHOUSE - ROOF - SUNSET 95

Doug and Pamela sit on the ridge of the farmhouse roof(they climbed out of a dormer window from the attic).

DOUG:

I think my dad was like Jacey is.

Some guys are just dare-devils. I

bet Jacey once that he couldn't doa back-flip off the garage roofinto a big pile of leaves. And he

did it.

PAMELA:

(slight beat)

One time Eleanor and I snuck out

and walked around the yard naked.

(CONTINUED)

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DOUG:

You did?

PAMELA:

Yeah. It was sort of a dare, too.

She dared me, I dared her, so we

both did it.

DOUG:

Was this day or night?

PAMELA:

Night.

DOUG:

Was there a full moon?

PAMELA:

I don't remember.

DOUG:

You walked around the yard or did

you like run from tree to tree?

PAMELA:

We just walked around the yard.

DOUG:

Front yard or back yard?

PAMELA:

Back yard.

DOUG:

Oh.

PAMELA:

Does it matter?

DOUG:

Yeah. Back yard nudity is

hypocritical. It's insincere.

People should do and say exactly

what they feel or think and not

try to hide things.

PAMELA:

Okay.

DOUG:

Okay.

Their conversation is stifled by this new standard ofabsolute honesty.

(CONTINUED)

64.

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The sunset provides a convenient excuse for theirsilence. But then Pam realizes he is staring at her.

Hi.

DOUG:

Hi.

PAMELA:

DOUG:

You look pretty.

Really?

PAMELA:

Yup.

DOUG:

Pamela takes his hand, gently unfolds it, and with herindex finger she writes on his palm, "I love you."

Telling him took all the nerve she could muster, shehasn't the stamina for a disappointing response -- sheplaces her fingers on his lips to silence him. Dougleans over and kisses her, sweetly and tenderly, and fora long time. They will always remember this kiss.

96 EXT. MOVIE THEATRE (DOWNTOWN HALEY) - NIGHT 96

The marquee reads: "FRANK SINATRA -- EDW. G. ROBINSON -'

A HOLE IN THE HEAD' -- CINEMASCOPE -- AIR CONDITIONED."

Alice Abbott buys a ticket at the box office.

97 INT. MOVIE THEATRE - NIGHT (MINUTES LATER) 97

The movie has already begun. Alice enters the sparselypeopled theatre and pauses to allow her eyes to adjust tothe darkness. A hand reaches out and takes her hand -it

is Jacey. He's seated beside the door. He rises and

leads her across the row of empty seats to the exit.

98 INT. MOVIE THEATRE - BALCONY - NIGHT (MOMENTS LATER) 98

Jacey guides Alice to two seats deep in the shadows ofthe otherwise unoccupied balcony. They gaze at thescreen for a few moments, then he moves his mouth to her

ear and nibbles on her lobe. She turns her lips to hisand they kiss passionately. Jacey slides his hand underher skirt. Alice presses herself against his hand andwhispers:

(CONTINUED)

INVENTING THE ABBOTTS - Rev. 2/16/96 65/66.

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ALICE:

Don't tell... don't tell anyonewhat we're doing... don't tellanyone... no one can know,

Jacey... no one...

99 INT. TEXACO STATION (DOWNTOWN HALEY) - NIGHT 99

(WEEKS LATER)

The station is closed and locked up for the night. Jaceyand Alice are naked in the back seat of a car parkedinside the dark service bay. It is a hot and humid

night. They are slippery with sweat.

JACEY:

Marry me.

ALICE:

Impossible...

JACEY:

Nothing's impossible...

100 OMITTED 100

thru thru

B102 B102

C102 EXT. BUS DEPOT (HALEY) - DAY C102

Helen leans out a bus window and calls to Doug, who isperched on the front fender of the Plymouth, which isparked nearby with Jacey behind the wheel.

HELEN:

Don't forget to water my tomatoes!

DOUG:

Okay, Mom, okay.

The bus pulls away. Doug waves as the bus goes down thestreet -- then he leaps with surprise as an impatientJacey leans on the CAR HORN.

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