Leon Page #12

Leon in a towel, small for his size. He gets in the living

room.

LEON:

Mathilda?

MATHILDA (out of scene)

Yes.... I'm coming

Leon gets to the window and looks out. Something changed in

Leon. He's tired by all this, maybe. He sits on the chair.

Mathilda's walkman is on. He hesitates, then eventually puts

on the headphones. It's a sweet, almost classical music. Very

beautiful, like the arriving Mathilda. She wears the dress

Leon offered her, she's made up. She looks 20-year-old.

Leon's mouth is open. She smiles and heels down before him.

He gets off the headphones.

LEON:

What's going on?

MATHILDA (surprised)

Nothing... Why?

LEON:

Well... I don't know, suddenly, the make

up... All this... How are you? Are you

OK?

MATHILDA:

Of course! I'm fine! I put on your

beautiful dress, I slightly made up... I

tried to get beautiful! Don't you like

it?

LEON(shy)

...Yes.

MATHILDA:

So say it!

LEON(pause)

...I like it...

Mathilda smiles and stands up. She gets in the kitchen.

Leon feels weird, like he was falling in a trap, without being

able to do anything. Mathilda comes back with a glass of milk

she hands to Leon. She lowers the tents to dim the strong

sunlight. Mathilda heels down in front of him. Leon doesn't

dare move any more.

MATHILDA:

...Don't you drink?

LEON:

I prefer waiting for a while... I feel

it would go the wrong way.

Mathilda takes the glass from his hands and drinks half. She

passes her tongue along her lips to dry up the milk. Leon

looks at her, like a child in front of a sweet shop. She

returns his milk. Mathilda looks like a calm cat.

MATHILDA (sweetly)

I love you, Leon... Totally. It's the

first time I feel it that strong. It's

also the first time I trust a man. I

trust you.

She caresses his hand.

MATHILDA (con't)

...I love your hands...

(pause)

Leon... in your hands... I'd like you to

be my first lover.

Leon retracts his hand and finishes the milk.

He looks at Mathilda with as much sadness as happiness. By a

fingertip, Mathilda takes the milkdrop on Leon's lips and gets

it in her mouth. Leon is going to cry.

LEON(feeling bad)

...I can't, Mathilda... I can't.

MATHILDA (with a sad smile)

...Have you got a girlfriend?

LEON:

...No...

MATHILDA:

...Don't you like me?

LEON(sincerely)

...Yes...

(pause)

...You're the most beautiful, Mathilda.

Mathilda looks relieved by these magic words. She puts her

face on Leon's lap, who caresses her hair.

MATHILDA:

You know, girls think about their first

boyfriend for a long time... I imagined

him with grizzled hair, elegant... A

little like Georgia's father. Georgia is

a classmate of mine... Kinda guy makes

you feel sure! Cool, isn't it? Leon nods

yes, without really knowing what he's

saying "yes" to. My mates told me the

first time they made love was awful.

They had pain everywhere, afterward...

But that's because they made it with men

they didn't love. In fact, they did it

just to show off, at the beginning.

Later, they liked it. ...Like

cigarettes.

Leon closes his eyes. Kind of pain on his face.

MATHILDA:

How many girlfriends did you have?

LEON:

...I don't know.

MATHILDA:

Well... 1... 2... 10... 100... 1000? How

many, approximately?

LEON:

...Mathilda, I don't feel like talking

about this.

MATHILDA:

Why? Did you have too many and you fear

it may shock me? I won't get shocked.

I'm used to this! My father was a true

pig. He f***ed the b*tch I'd as mother

all around the apartment. Whenever a door

was closed, you could be sure they were

making sex behind it! And my sister, if

you didn't sleep with her, you're

building's exception!

LEON:

Stop, Mathilda! Don't talk like that!

Mathilda's going to cry.

MATHILDA:

I talk because you don't talk, Leon. I

declare my love and you say nothing.

That's why I'm nervous and I can't stop

talking. Tell me you love me, or you

don't love me, or you love someone else.

....But tell me something.

Leon tries to recover, before speaking.

LEON:

...I had a girlfriend... A long time

ago. Before coming here, in my country.

I was 14-year-old... We flirted like

kids... Her father didn't want her to

meet me. My family was not very

respectable.

MATHILDA:

Then? You didn't give a sh*t about her

father, didn't you? You met anyway?

Leon pauses for a long, then nods yes.

LEON:

...He killed her, a bullet in her

head...

Mathilda is stunned.

MATHILDA:

...That's awful. I hope you killed,

that a**hole?

LEON:

...Yes. The day he got out of jail. I

allowed him to make ten steps... No more.

And bang. Two hundred meters. By

telescope. That night, I left my country

and came here, to join my father, who

worked for Tony. ...I was 17. Then, I

never left the city... And never had

another girlfriend...

Leon sweetly looks at her.

LEON (con't)

...You see, I wouldn't be a good lover,

Mathilda.

MATHILDA:

Leon, I don't know life very much... I

just know I love you... And love is

stronger than anything else.

Leon is more and more nervous, like a child.

LEON:

Maybe... Sure... But... I'm scared,

Mathilda.

Leon cries. Mathilda caresses his face.

MATHILDA:

Don't fear, Leon. You mustn't fear

love, when it's this beautiful.

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