Joe Versus the Volcano Page #12

PATRICIA:

I don't work for him. My

transport of you is strictly a

favor.

JOE:

You do favors for people

you're mad at?

PATRICIA:

I don't work for him!

JOE:

Alright.

(CONTINUED)

JOE VERSUS THE VOLCANO - Rev. 6/2/89 62.

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(4) 74

PATRICIA:

He said he'd give me this boat

if I took you.

JOE:

Wow.

PATRICIA:

(defensive)

He's got two of them. This is

The Tweedle Dee. There's a

Tweedle Dum, too.

She gets up. She's flustered.

PATRICIA:

I've got the wheel tied up,

which is not good sailing.

Excuse me.

She goes toward the stern. Joe is left alone to finish

his supper.

75EXT. THE TWEEDLE DEE - DAY 75

is cutting through the blue. The sun is setting.

76EXT. THE TWEEDLE DEE - NIGHT76

is anchored and lit up. It's a dark and starless night.

77INT. THE TWEEDLE DEE - CABINS - NIGHT 77

Patricia is showing Joe his berth. The whole interior of

the boat is made of beautiful wood.

PATRICIA:

Is this okay for you?

JOE:

Sure.

PATRICIA:

The boys like to sleep in the

hull. Dagmar sleeps on deck

when the weather's good. So

you've pretty much got things

to yourself. I'm in the little

stateroom.

JOE:

Great.

(CONTINUED)

JOE VERSUS THE VOLCANO - Rev. 3/23/89 63.

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77

But Patricia lingers.

PATRICIA:

I'm sorry I was so rude on the

dock.

JOE:

That's okay.

She finished, but again she lingers, awkward. Finally,

she blurts out.

PATRICIA:

Did you sleep with my sister?

JOE:

No.

PATRICIA:

Actually, she's my half-

sister.

JOE:

No, I didn't.

PATRICIA:

Okay.

(again awkward)

Do you like to fish?

JOE:

Sure.

PATRICIA:

Maybe tomorrow we'll do some

fishing.

She goes to the entranceway and fingers a switch on the

wall.

PATRICIA:

This is the light switch. Did

Mike show you how to work the

bathroom?

JOE:

Yeah.

PATRICIA:

Good. Do you want me to turn

off the light while I'm going?

JOE:

Okay.

(CONTINUED)

64.

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(2) 77

She turns off the light. Only the light from the

entranceway illuminates her now, and Joe is not visible.

PATRICIA:

I love my sister. I know

she's screwed up. I love my

father, even though I never

see him and he's not so great

when I do see him. I'm very

nervous about this trip. My

father didn't tell me anything

and you don't seem to be

telling me anything. But it's

more than that. I've always

kept clear of my father's

stuff since I got out on my

own. Now he's pulled me back

in. He knew I wanted this

boat and he used it and he got

me working for him, which I

swore I would never do. I feel

ashamed because I had a price.

He named it. And now I know

that about myself. I don't

know who you are. I don't

know anything about you. But

you're working for him, too,

and that makes us two of a

kind. I could treat you like I

did back on the dock, but that

would be me kicking myself for

selling out. Which isn't fair

to you and doesn't make me

feel any better. I don't know

what your situation is. But I

wanted you to know what mine

is. Not just to explain some

rude behavior. But because

we're on a little boat for a

while and I'm soul sick and

you're gonna see that. Like

my sister. She's soul sick,

too. And if you'd slept with

her I would've known something

about you. But you didn't.

You didn't. I believe you.

JOE:

I'm glad you believe me.

PATRICIA:

Have you ever slept on a boat

before?

JOE:

No.

(CONTINUED)

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PATRICIA:

It really affects your dreams.

I look forward to it. Even

though, sometimes, the dreams

really shake me up. Okay.

Good night.

JOE:

Good night.

She departs through the entrance way. The light goes

out, and it's dark and quiet.

78EXT. STERN OF THE TWEEDLE DEE - DAY 78

It's a really beautiful sunny day. Tony is at the wheel,

the sails are full and, sitting in two chairs hard by the

stern are Joe and Patricia. They both are holding deep

sea fishing rods; they're trolling.

MUSIC.

"The Girl From Ipanema," the famous recording by Getz and

Gilberto, is playing now.

Patricia reels in her line. A beautiful fish is flapping

on the end of it. Joe reels in his line. Nothing. He

watches as Patricia unhooks her catch and tosses it in a

hamper. Dagmar appears, looks in the hamper, and nods

approvingly. Then she looks at Joe. Where's Joe's fish?

Then he walks away again. Joe casts again, while

Patricia rebates her hook. Then Patricia casts again.

Mike arrives with a beer for Patricia, who accepts it.

Mike leaves. Patricia gets another strike, asks Joe to

hold her beer, which he does. She reels in another

beautiful fish. She unhooks it and throws it in the

hamper. Dagmar appears, looks in the hamper, nods

approvingly, and then looks at Joe. Where's Joe's fish?

Joe looks at Dagmar, and then ignores her. Dagmar

departs. Joe goes back to fishing. Now Joe gets a

strike. It's a big one! The line goes burning out his

reel. Patricia notices. She offers to help him. He

waves her off. Dagmar appears. She offers some advice.

But Joe's completely focused on his rod. The rod, which

is substantial, starts to bend. Mike comes back to

watch. The rod is almost bent double. Then it goes

madly to the left. Offers of help are made, but Joe

shouts them back. Then the rod goes madly to the right.

Dagmar runs OUT OF VIEW, and reappears with an enormous

gaff, which she brandishes excitedly. A sudden powerful

tug almost pulls Joe off the back of the boat, but Mike

grabs him just in time. Joe is a man possessed. He

reels and pulls with superhuman determination. Without

warning, a huge head, the head of a hammerhead shark,

appears at the stern. Its eyes turn inboard and look at

Joe. Everybody drops everything and runs away.

JOE VERSUS THE VOLCANO - Rev. 4/14/89 66.

79EXT. DINING TABLE - TWILIGHT79

The sun has just sunk beneath the horizon's rim so

there's still all that sun setting light in the sky. The

first evening star has appeared. Joe and Patricia are

the last left at the dinner's end. The bones of the fish

Patricia caught earlier are on a platter at the table's

center. Mike appears and removes the platter and a couple

of stray plates, and disappears into the galley. There

are balloon glasses by Joe and Patricia's places and, by

Patricia, a bottle of cognac.

PATRICIA:

Do you like cognac?

JOE:

Cognac?

PATRICIA:

Yeah.

JOE:

I guess so.

PATRICIA:

I make a point of not knowing

about certain things. One of

them's cognac. I like cognac.

But I don't want the accepted

wisdom about cognac, you know

what I mean? I mean I want

glimpses of the myth about it.

You see people drink it out of

these big glasses, and

smelling it forever. That's

interesting to me, that sight

of them doing that. But I

don't want them to talk to me

about it, you know what I

mean? I want to figure it out

based on what I've seen from

other people, and what I

personally get from it.

She opens the bottle and pours them both some.

PATRICIA:

So this is what I've got. So

far. To say about this: Most

cognac is French. It's very

volatile. Like gasoline or

model airplane glue. And when

you taste it, in my opinion,

it tastes like gasoline or

model airplane glue. That's

because it's for smelling

really. And I figure that's

because the French,

physically, tend to have big

noses. They get the pleasure

of the cognac through the

nose.

(MORE)

(CONTINUED)

JOE VERSUS THE VOLCANO - Rev. 5/16/89 67.

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