Leon Page #11

Mathilda saves his face. She hands him the note.

MATHILDA:

...It's not serious... It means I'll

pay ten months in advance.

The kid takes the money, perplexed.

THE BOSS:

...OK... Good.

MATHILDA:

Can I sit on the stairways now?

THE BOSS:

Huh... Yeah, yeah... Of course.

Everyone is surprised by Mathilda's calm.

A KID:

...Would you like a cigarette?

MATHILDA:

Yes... Thanks.

Another kid lights it. The last one pulls out a bottle of

whisky.

THE KID:

A little draught?

MATHILDA:

No thanks... Never alcohol.

* * * * * * * * * *

LATER - IN THE COURT

The kids and Mathilda play baseball. The ball gets to

Mathilda. A little too fast: she avoids it.

THE BOSS (shouting)

Huh! Mathilda, b*tch! Run! Run!

Mathilda runs, gets the ball and launches it very awkwardly.

The boss is furious.

THE BOSS:

...B*tch! You're really nil! Come on,

get away! Get back to your stairways!

Mathilda abandons the game, oppressed.

THE BOSS:

You fear a ball?! I can't believe it!!

Gals!... Come on, let's play, not a game

for gals!

Mathilda stands up, this time she's really annoyed. She gets

upstairs. She opens the violin and takes a gun. Downstairs,

kids have a pause.

THE BOSS:

Good, let's have a break, five minutes.

Poly? Cigarettes.

Mathilda joins back the kids downstairs.

MATHILDA:

Look, the fearful's got a game for you.

She pulls out the gun, opens the cylinder.

MATHILDA:

...You can show me your balls! Russian

roulette, you know?

* * * * * * * * * *

IN FRONT OF MATHILDA'S BUILDING

Police line. Two cops guard. Open ambulance waiting for its

load. Leon arrives by cab. He immediately realizes something

happened. Mathilda. He's worried about her.

He gets off the cab. He stammers something to the first cop.

LEON:

...I live in here...

He breaks through. At the end of the corridor, near

stairways, a little corpse, covered by a white sheet. Blood at

one end. Two male nurses easily lift the corpse and lay it

down on the stretcher. Leon's scared by that sheet, that

little corpse. He lifts one end. Big sport shoes. Far from

Mathilda's small feet. He's going to climb upstairs, but a cop

blocks him.

COP:

No entry for the moment.

LEON:

I live in here.

The cop puts a hand on Leon's chest to stop him

COP:

When I say no entry, I mean "no entry".

He said this with a bad tone. Leon stares at him.

IN THE APARTMENT

A plain clothes detective sits in front of Mathilda, who's

crying on her couch. Evidently, the cop's waiting for her to

stop crying, for interrogation. He looks at his wristwatch.

Another two cops calmly, sweetly check out the apartment.

Routine. They pass by the double bass without opening it. Leon

gets in. She jumps in his arms. He's relieved. She cries with

joy.

LEON(sweet)

Come on, it's over, I'm here.

MATHILDA (in tears)

You mustn't leave me, Leon... I do

stupid things, when you're not here.

LEON:

I'm here, I'll never leave you again,

Mathilda, never. I swear.

MATHILDA:

I love you so much, Leon.

LEON:

I love you too, and I don't want to lose

you.

The cop is really stunned by Leon's arrival.

COP:

Can I have a word with you, Mister? Are

you her father?

Leon signs him "stop". The cop is slightly annoyed by such an

authority.

LEON(to Mathilda, sweetly)

What did you do? What happened? Tell

me.

He caresses her hair. She's calming down.

MATHILDA:

...Well... The kids. They didn't want me

to play baseball. They said I'm a fearful

gal.

The cop listens, interested.

LEON:

Poor darling, and then?

MATHILDA:

Well... I proposed them to play

roulette... Like we played...

(She resumes

crying.)

...And I lost.

He takes her in his arms. The cop is stunned.

LEON:

Don't cry, Mathilda, please. Take.

(hanky)

Prepare your case and we get away for a

while, OK? We change neighborhoods! Come

on, go, I wait, OK?

COP (determined)

Mister? I'd like seeing your papers.

Leon already pulled out his gun and showed his identity.

Thrice.

LEON:

Come on, prepare your stuff, we move in

a much calmer place, you'll see. Near the

country.

Leon doesn't care he just killed three cops.

Mathilda puts her Polaroid and her teddy bear in her sack. A

photo falls on the ground. They leave the apartment. No more

double bass. Just violin and sack.

While going downstairs, one realizes how difficult Leon's

climb was:
killed cops at virtually every floor.

They get out of the backdoor. Leon and Mathilda, holding

each other's hand, walk across the city. Sun's tired. City's

orange.

* * * * * * * * * *

It's almost night when Stansfield and his men arrive in front

of Leon and Mathilda's building. In the apartment, three

corpses covered by white sheets.

Police commander on place. STANSFIELD gets in.

COMMANDER (nervous)

...What are you doing in here?

Stansfield checks out the apartment.

STANSFIELD:

...I've been following the guy for a

while.

STANSFIELD finds the forgotten Polaroid photo.

STANSFIELD is perplexed, then recognizes the girl.

COMMANDER:

May I know this typhoon's name?

STANSFIELD:

...Leon.

* * * * * * * * * *

Leon's having a shower. Face in his hands. Evidently, he's

trying to recover. New apartment's door opens, after a few

knocks that look like a code. Mathilda gets in. Leon quickly

moves in the bathroom. His hand approaches a gun.

LEON:

Mathilda?

Mathilda passes before bathroom's door and scratches it

without stopping.

MATHILDA:

Yes... Alright.

She gets in the room and unpacks her things, including

cosmetics. She gets close to the window and starts making up

herself.

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