Leaving Las Vegas Page #4

YURI:

I need money fast, Sera. I

want you back on the street.

Tonight.

FADE OUT:

FADE IN SLOWLY - SOUND FIRST:

25 INT. BEN�S HOUSE - NIGHT

Ben opens his eyes. The only light comes from the TV. The

miles Davis record has got caught on a scratch and is

repeating the sane phrase over and over again. He looks at

his gold Rolex and then fingers the wedding band on his

finger.

CUT TO:

26 INT. BEN�S BAR. LA - NIGHT

Ben is sitting at the bar. He drinks a large glass of

something very quickly and then immediately orders another.

He drinks this a little slower but still too quick, finishes

it and then orders another. He looks around the bar and sees

a woman sitting by herself, thirtyish, pretty and receptive.

She looks and sees Ben, and he smiles at her. She smiles

right back. Ben talks across the bar.

BEN:

(charming)

Good evening.

PRETTY WOMAN:

(pleased)

Hi.

BEN:

I�m Benjamin�Ben.

PRETTY WOMAN:

I�m Teri.

Ben walks over to where she is. She is pleased that this

good-looking man has come over to make a play. She makes a

noise with her straw to indicate that her glass is empty.

BEN:

I�ll get you another

one... and me too. Mind if I

join you?

She watches him walk to the bar. He gets the drink and walks

back to her. He sets the drinks down on the table and sits

down. As he does so, his face gets close to hers and she

smells the booze on him.

PRETTY WOMAN:

Wow... been drinking all day?

BEN:

But of course.

She looks at him, a disappointed expression on her face. She

is no longer interested in being seduced by this man and this

much is clear to Ben.

BEN:

Why don�t we finish these and

go to my apartment on the

beach?

She doesn�t respond.

BEN:

We can watch a movie and I�ll

mix you up a gooey blender

drink.

Ben winces at his own words. He shakes his head.

PRETTY WOMAN:

I have to get up pretty early

tomorrow. I�ll just finish

this and go. Thanks anyway.

They drink in silence for a while. Ben takes a deep breath.0

BEN:

(pathetic)

I really wish that you�d come

home with me. You�re so cute

and I�m really good in

bed... believe me... you smell

good too...

He stops and frowns as he stares into his empty glass.

BEN:

No, OK.

Ben tries to stand and has to pull himself up by holding the

bar. It�s a strange thing with drunks like Ben... when they�re

up they have balance and timing, but when they�re down it all

falls apart. She starts to speak but then doesn�t. A look of

great sadness comes over her.

PRETTY WOMAN:

I have to go now. Thanks

anyway.

She stands to go.

PRETTY WOMAN:

Maybe you shouldn�t drink so

much.

She walks to the door and Ben turns to the bar, watched by he

Barman, who is a little concerned.

BEN:

(to himself)

Maybe I shouldn�t breathe so

much, Teri. Ha... ha.

BARMAN:

(sever voice)

Time to go, buddy... We�re

closing up.

Ben gets out his wallet but his hands are shaking so much

that he cannot extract any bills. He is very embarrassed and

tries again, but to no avail.

BEN:

Would you...?

The barman shakes his head in disgust as he goes into the

wallet and takes some money.

CUT TO:

27 EXT. LA STREETS - NIGHT

Ben is cruising in his car, listening to music on his stereo.

CUT TO:

28 INT. STRIP CLUB - NIGHT

Ben comes into the club and sits down next to the stage,

where a dancer is doing her thing accompanied by a live blue

trio. A swimsuited waitress comes to the table.

WAITRESS:

There�s a one-drink minimum per show, I hope you saw the sign

when you came in. Anyway, they�re supposed to tell you.

BEN:

Yes, I heard, and it�s not a

problem.

WAITRESS:

What do you want?

BEN:

What are my choices?

WAITRESS:

Everything�s ten dollars, and

there�s no alcohol.

BEN:

No alcohol?

WAITRESS:

No alcohol. You gotta get

something else. Everything�s

ten dollars. What do you

want?

BEN:

What do you think I should

get?

WAITRESS:

Non-alcoholic malt beverage?

BEN:

... Noooo.

WAITRESS:

Orange soda?

BEN:

No.

WAITRESS:

Coffee?

BEN:

No.

WAITRESS:

Sparkling apple cider?

BEN:

No.

WAITRESS:

Water?

BEN:

Water?

WAITRESS:

One drink minimum per show.

Everything�s ten dollars.

Now... tell me what you want

or I�ll eighty-six you.

BEN:

(decides)

Water.

She writes down W.A.T.E.R. and walks away. Ben calls her

back.

BEN:

Just how much would it cost

for you to eighty-six me?

ANGLE ON THE STAGE

A tough black girl dances in a world of her own, impervious

to the men who stare at her. The trio grinds out a dirty

blues. A man opposite Ben places a dollar bill on the stage

and as the dancer squats down to pick it up he stares between

her legs an winks. The Waitress puts down a styrofoam cup and

a bottle of water in front of Ben but refuses to look at him.

WAITRESS:

(hostile)

Three-fifty.

Ben puts down a hundred on to her tray.

BEN:

(polite)

Could I have fives please?

Keep one for yourself.

This throws the Waitress for a loop.

CUT TO:

29 INT. BATHROOM OF STRIP CLUB - NIGHT

Ben drinks all of a fifth of bourbon. Other guys come and go,

pissing against the urinal. Ben offers one of the guys a

drink, the pianist from the trio. He takes a shot.

CUT TO:

30 INT. STRIP CLUB - NIGHT

Ben sits next to another man watching the show. On stage a

tall blonde dances with her own reflection in a mirror. Ben

turns to his neighbor.

BEN:

To me nothing is more

beautiful than the

relationship between the

reflection of a woman and the

woman who has created it.

NEIGHBOR:

(completely uninterested)

No sh*t!

30A EXT. LA STREETS - NIGHT

Ben drives in his car.

CUT TO:

31 EXT. SUNSET BOULEVARD - LATER THAT NIGHT

Ben is cruising in his car, listening to �Lonely Teardrops�

again. He�s looking for a prostitute. He sees a girl, but

when he slows down she ducks into a doorway.

He looks in his rear-view mirror and sees a cop car coming up

fast. Ben panics for a second. There is a bottle between his

legs. The cop car draws level and cruises alongside him for a

while, but then puts its lights and siren on and speeds off,

doing a U-turn.

Ben continues and then sees an Hispanic girl and stops. He

winds down the window. He is by now almost incoherent.

BEN:

Good evening.

32 EXT. KERBSIDE - NIGHT

The girl looks up and down the street and then walks over to

the car and bends down to the window.

HISPANIC GIRL:

You wanna date? You wanna

date me?

The girl�s eyes shift constantly from Ben to the street and

then back again.

BEN:

(cut to the chase)

I�ll give you a hundred

dollars for a straight forty-

five minutes. You get the

room.

Ben shows her the money.

HISPANIC GIRL:

(trying to take him)

The room is twenty. You pay

for it.

Ben laughs.

BEN:

OK... but only because I think

that the concept of surrender

fits in with the big picture

right now. How about over

there?

He gives her a twenty and indicates a motel across the

street. She sets off and he gets out of the car. As he does,

a wave of nausea hits him. He shakes his head violently and

then lurches across the street, causing two cars to hit their

brakes. The camera follows him into the dark parking lot of

the motel, where the Hispanic girl is waiting.

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