Joe Versus the Volcano Page #4

WATURI:

Watch it, mister! There's a

woman here!

JOE:

Don't you think I know that,

Frank? Don't you think I'm

aware there's a woman here? I

can taste her on my tongue. I

can smell her. When I'm

twenty feet away, I can hear

the fabric of her dress when

she moves in her chair. Not

that I've done anything about

it. I've gone all day, every

day, not doing, not saying,

not taking the chance for

three hundred bucks a week,

and Frank the coffee stinks

it's like arsenic, the lights

give me a headache if the

lights don't give you a

headache you must be dead,

let's arrange the funeral.

(CONTINUED)

JOE VERSUS THE VOLCANO - Rev. 6/2/89 17.

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WATURI:

You better get outta here

right now! I'm telling you!

JOE:

You're telling me nothing.

WATURI:

I'm telling you!

JOE:

And why, I ask myself, why

have I put up with you? I

can't imagine but I know.

Fear. Yellow freakin' fear.

I've been too chicken sh*t

afraid to live my life so I

sold it to you for three

hundred freakin' dollars a

week! You're lucky I don't

kill you! You're lucky I don't

rip your freakin' throat out!

But I'm not going to and maybe

you're not so lucky at that.

'Cause I'm gonna leave you

here, Mister Wa-a-Waturi, and

what could be worse than that?

Joe opens the door and leaves. Mr. Waturi and Dede are

frozen. The door reopens and Joe comes halfway back in.

JOE:

Dede?

DEDE:

Yeah?

JOE:

How 'bout dinner tonight?

DEDE:

Yeah, uh, okay.

Joe smiles for the first time since we've met him, and

closes the door again.

DEDE:

Wow. What a change.

WATURI:

Who does he think he is?

13INT. "THE SPANISH ROSE" RESTAURANT - NIGHT 13

Joe and Dede are sitting at a table, steaming plates of

food before them.

(CONTINUED)

JOE VERSUS THE VOLCANO - Rev. 1/15/89 18.

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13

They are drinking red wine. Joe is caught up in a big

idea. Dede is mesmerized.

JOE:

I mean, who am I? That's the

real question, isn't it? Who

am I? Who are you? What other

questions are there? What

other questions are there,

really? If you want to

understand the universe,

embrace the universe, the door

to the universe is you!

DEDE:

Me?

JOE:

You. Me.

DEDE:

You are really intense.

JOE:

Am I? I guess I am. I was.

DEDE:

What do you mean?

JOE:

I mean, a long time ago. In

the beginning. I was full of

piss and vinegar. Nothing got

me down. I wanted to know!

DEDE:

You wanted to know what?

JOE:

Everything! But then, I had

some experiences... I was

talking to this guy today, he

says I got scared.

DEDE:

Scared of what?

JOE:

Have you ever been scared?

DEDE:

I guess so. Sure.

(CONTINUED)

19.

13CONTINUED:
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JOE:

What scared you?

DEDE:

A lot of things. At the

moment, you scare me a little

bit.

JOE:

Me?

DEDE:

Yeah.

Across the room, at another table, three guys with

guitars, in traditional Spanish costumes, sing a happy

Castilian song. Dede and Joe turn and take in the

singers.

JOE:

Why would I scare you?

DEDE:

I don't know. There's

something going on with you.

This morning you were like a

lump and now you're... How do

you feel?

JOE:

I feel great.

DEDE:

See? You never feel great.

JOE:

No, I never do.

He laughs.

DEDE:

What's funny?

JOE:

I do feel great. And that is

very funny!

DEDE:

Where are you?

JOE:

I'm right here.

DEDE:

I wish I was where you are,

Joe.

(CONTINUED)

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JOE:

(nodding)

No, you don't. Did I ever

tell you that the first time I

saw you, I felt I'd seen you

before?

She shakes her head.

JOE:

Wait a minute.

(CONTINUED)

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Joe gets up, goes over to the three guys with guitars,

slips them a fin, confers briefly, and returns to the

table.

DEDE:

What'd you do?

JOE:

I bribed them to sing a song

that would drive us insane and

make our hearts swell and

burst.

Whereupon the three guys with guitars arrive at the table

and launch into an extremely passionate Castilian love

song. The song makes conversation impossible. Joe pours

Dede some more red wine. They toast, looking into each

other's eyes. The scene ends, but the SONG CONTINUES

through the following.

14EXT. SPANISH ROSE - NIGHT 14

Against a slightly tilting lamp post leans a sailor in

uniform. Joe and Dede emerge from the restaurant and get

in his beat-up car. The car pulls away. The SONG

CONTINUES through the following.

15EXT. STATEN ISLAND FERRY - JOE'S CAR 15

The ferry pulls away from the shore. Joe and Dede go to

the railing and look back at Manhattan, all lit up,

receding. They kiss and look again. The song continues

through next.

16EXT. STATEN ISLAND - THREE FAMILY HOUSE - NIGHT 16

Joe's car pulls to a stop in front of it, and he and Dede

get out. There are some steps. He kisses her and

carries her up the steps. Then he puts her down to open

the door. The SONG ENDS.

17INT. JOE'S APARTMENT - FOYER - NIGHT 17

Joe throws open the door with one hand. He's got Dede on

his arm. They kiss passionately. Joe reluctantly ends

the kiss.

JOE:

Listen.

(CONTINUED)

JOE VERSUS THE VOLCANO - Rev. 1/15/89 21.

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17

DEDE:

What happened to you?

JOE:

Huh?

DEDE:

What happened to you that

you're ... so alive? I can

see it.

JOE:

The doctor told me I've got

this thing wrong with my

brain. It's not catching.

But I've just got five or six

months to live.

DEDE:

What?

JOE:

I'm gonna die. And it's made

me. very appreciative of my

life.

Dede shrinks from him, clutching her coat, suddenly cold.

DEDE:

I've gotta go.

JOE:

Please don't.

He reaches for her. She steps back.

DEDE:

I've gotta go home. You

may've quit, but I got the job

in the morning.

JOE:

Dede, I really want you to

stay.

DEDE:

You're gonna die?

JOE:

Yeah, but so what? Stay!

Just tonight. Tomorrow'll

take care of itself.

She hesitates on the brink of staying, lifts her hands to

say yes, but her courage fails her.

DEDE:

I can't handle it, Joe.

(CONTINUED)

JOE VERSUS THE VOLCANO - Rev. 5/16/8921A.

17CONTINUED:
(2) 17

She drops her hands, grabs the doorknob, and opens the

door.

DEDE:

Sorry.

She quickly goes, slamming the door after her. Joe looks

after her blankly. Then he takes off his coat, tie and

jacket, and throws them on the floor. He walks off down

the hall.

18INT. JOE'S KITCHEN - PREDAWN18

Joe is making some real coffee. He's changed into

bathrobe. He's got a little lamp on, not the overhead

light. He opens the refrigerator and takes out a loaf of

white bread. He puts a couple of slices in the toaster.

Then he looks at his little tin dining table and at

window. The window is so dirty it's opaque. You'd like

to open it to see out. He pulls the table over to

window. Then he pulls a chair over to face the window.

The window looks out on a long little street. At the end

of the street is a brightness, where the sun will be. He

brings his coffee to the table, and a napkin, and a a

spoon. He hears the TOAST POP. He gets it, puts it on a

plate, butters it, and brings it to the table. He sits

down. He takes a sip of coffee and a bite of toast. He

1ooks out the window. The sun is just starting to come

up. He looks at the coffee, at the little whiff of steam

rising from the cracked cup. The crack's in the shape of

ACHI logo. He looks at the toast with one bite missing

and the butter melting into the golden bread. He 1ooks

at the sun's splendid red rim. These things are so

beautiful. His eyes well up. He takes another bite of

the toast and another sip of the coffee and looks at the

rising sun. It's so great that he's here to experience

these things, and so sad that he's leaving. He goes back

to the refrigerator and takes out the loaf of bread. He

puts a couple of more slices in the toaster and the

almost full loaf of bread next to the almost full pot of

coffee.

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