Leaving Las Vegas Page #5

BEN:

(slurring badly)

I canremember... if

mywifeleffme... or Illeff

her... bufuckittanyway...

The girl laughs at Ben and says something in Spanish.

Slowly the picture gets darker, until all that can be seen is

the headlights from the passing cars on Sunset... and then...

33 INT. BEN�S HOUSE - DAWN

Ben wakes up on the kitchen floor. The fridge door is open

and its light is what lights Ben. Inside the fridge are one

green pepper and four bottles of vodka. Without too much

effort Ben feels for his wallet and sees that it is still

there, as are his car keys. He closes the fridge door and in

the green light from the window he lies still. The first

birds start singing. (the birdsong continues through the

following sequence, which does not have sync sound.)

CUT TO:

FLASHBACK:

34 EXT. SUNSET BOULEVARD MOTEL. PARKING-LOT DUMPSTERS - NIGHT

At the rear of the motel. Next to some garbage hoppers, the

Hispanic girl hugging him and kissing his neck. He tries to

kiss her on the mouth, but she turns her face away.

CUT TO:

35 INT. BEN�S HOUSE - DAWN

Ben lying on the floor, thinking.

CUT TO:

FLASHBACK:

36 EXT. SUNSET BOULEVARD MOTEL. PARKING-LOT DUMPSTERS - NIGHT

The Hispanic girl kneeling in front of him, unzipping his

trousers. Through a gap in the fence, we see traffic going up

and down Sunset.

CUT TO:

37 INT. BEN�S HOUSE - DAWN

Ben lying on the floor, thinking...

CUT TO:

FLASHBACK:

38 EXT. SUNSET BOULEVARD MOTEL. PARKING-LOT DUMPSTERS - NIGHT

The girl takes his hand and kisses it. She begins sucking the

fingers, taking the whole hand into her mouth.

CUT TO:

39 INT. BEN�S HOUSE - DAWN

Ben suddenly sits up and looks at his hand. His wedding ring

has gone. He thinks about this for a long time.

CUT TO:

40 INT. BANK - MORNING

Ben waiting in line to cash a check. He looks unwell and is

having difficulty standing straight. At last it is his turn.

He goes to the counter and hands over a check to the girl.

BANK GIRL:

OK... four thousand, six

hundred dollars... one moment,

sir...

She looks at her computer read-out.

BANK GIRL:

That�ll leave five dollars in

your account. Would you sign

the back of the check,

please?

BEN:

(surprised)

You couldn�t cash it just

like it is?

BANK GIRL:

(puzzled)

I�m sorry, sir. Is there a

problem?

Ben picks up a pen and tries to sign, but his hands are

shaking so much that he cannot do it.

BEN:

(embarrassed)

Well... to tell you the truth,

I�m a little shaky right now.

I just had a brain

surgery... Why don�t I come

back after lunch, when I�m

feeling a little better? We

can take care of it then.

CUT TO:

41 INT. BEN�S BAR. LA. - MORNING

Ben seated at the bar, a pile of bills in front of him. The

Barman sets down a vodka, picks up the empty glass and takes

some bills, shaking his head in disapproval. The TV is on,

some game show as before, and Ben watches carefully, looking

for a sign from the girl, but the show proceeds in its

�normal� fashion. The only difference is that the hostess is

played by the girl in the bank. Ben grabs the Barman�s

attention.

BEN:

I think, when I�m done with

this, I�ll have gin and

tonic... Bombay gin and tonic.

The Barman loses it

BARMAN:

(angry)

You should be having coffee.

Do you know what time it is?

You�re a young man.

(calmer)

It�s none of my business, but

if you could see what I see,

you wouldn�t do this to

yourself.

Ben is taken aback by the emotion in his voice. In his mind,

cynicism and the desire to cry fight it out. He holds the

emotion back, and looks down at the bar.

BEN:

I understand what you�re

saying... I appreciate your

concern. Its not my intention

to make you uncomfortable.

Please... serve me today and I

will never come in here

again.

(cheerful)

If I do, you can eighty-six

me.

BARMAN:

Sure, sure, I can eighty-six

you now if I want to. Stop

f***ing with me. I don�t give

a f*** what you do.

He picks up a bottle of gin, fills a glass, slams it on the

counter in front of Ben and knocks twice with his knuckles on

the bar.

BARMAN:

On the house, son.

Ben looks at the TV for a sign. None is forthcoming.

CUT TO:

42 INT. BANK - DAY

Ben waiting in line again. The same Bank girl is there and

she is dealing with her customers in the same inanely

cheerful way that the game-show Hostess dealt with her prize-

winners. She notices Ben waiting and an irritated look

flashes over across her face. Ben studies her. She is pretty

in an ordinary kind of way. We hear Ben�s thoughts as voice-

over (or maybe he says them out loud to himself).

BEN:

(voice over)

Are you desirable? Are you

irresistible? Maybe if you

drank bourbon with me, it

would help. Maybe if you

kissed me and I could taste

the sting in your mouth, it

would help.

Close-up on the Bank Girl as she does her thing, efficiently

counting money, smiling, perfect teeth framed by a Cupid

mouth. She is wearing a white blouse through which frilly

lingerie can just be made out.

BEN:

If you drank bourbon with me

naked... if you smelled of

bourbon as you f***ed me, it

would help... it would

increase my esteem for you.

If you poured bourbon on to

your naked body and said to

me... drink this...

Camera moves in tighter on her face as she chats with a

customer about the weather.

BEN:

... if you spread your legs

and had bourbon dripping from

your breasts and you vagina

and said drink here... then I

could fall in love with you,

because then I would have a

purpose, to clean you up, and

that would prove that I�m

worth something. Id lick you

clean so you could go away

and f*** someone else.

BANK GIRL:

Next!

Ben takes a moment to come out of his reverie. He smiles and

comes to the counter, completely in control of himself.

BEN:

I�m back, I�ve got my

check... and baby... I�m ready

to sign.

He flips the check over, makes sure she is watching and signs

with a flourish.

BEN:

There... Steady as a f***ing

rock, excuse my French.

(serious)

Wanna have dinner with me?

She counts the money out and glares at him as she hands it

over.

BANK GIRL:

I�m glad you�re feeling

better. Do you need a

validation?

Ben looks at her and smiles.

CUT TO:

43 INT. SUPERMARKET - DAY

Ben throws items into a trolley. Garbage bags, firelighters

and charcoal lighter fluid.

CUT TO:

44 INT. BEN�S KITCHEN - DAY

Ben putting all the kitchen utensils into a large garbage

bag. Three other bags are already filled and the kitchen is

looking empty.

CUT TO:

45 INT. BEN�S BEDROOM - DAY

Ben is stuffing all the bedding into a garbage bag. Next he

opens a drawer on the dresser and begins taking out clothes

and stuffing them into another bag. He pauses for a moment to

take a drink from a tall glass.

CUT TO:

46 INT. BEN�S LIVING ROOM - DAY

All the books from the bookcase go into another bag. Then all

the records. But he selects certain favorites and as this

sequence progresses we can see that Ben is making tapes of

these tracks. As soon as he is done with the recording, he

throws the album into a garbage bag.

CUT TO:

47 EXT. BEN�S YARD - NIGHT

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