Life as a House Page #19

Tears well in George's eyes. Sam is caught up enough in what

his father has to say that he has to feign his lack of

interest.

SAM:

I'll have to pay him back.

GEORGE:

I won't ever hit you.

(beat)

I don't want you smaller. I want you to

be happy. You're not. Not here with me.

Not home with your mother. Not up in

Tahoe. Not alone. Not anywhere.

(beat)

You're what I was most of my life, Sam.

I see it in your eyes. In your sleep.

In your answer to everything. You're

barely alive.

SAM:

I'm not even listening.

GEORGE:

You know that great thing, though? Is

that change can be so constant you don't

even feel the difference until there is

one. It can be so slow that you don't

even notice that your life is better or

worse, until it is.

(beat)

Or it can just blow you away. Make you

something different in an instant. It

happened to me.

George walks to the garage door as he wipes his eyes. He

stops and turns back around to face Sam.

GEORGE (CONT'D)

Build this house with me.

George walks out leaving Sam on the bed to think.

EXT. GEORGE'S BEACH SHACK - AFTERNOON

George gathers a pile of splintered boards and tosses them

into the dumpster. He works while Guster sleeps.

LATER:

The sun is fierce, low on the horizon with a heat that

distorts the distance. George is sweating and shirtless as

Sam walks out of the garage with the gloves on and stands

staring at his father. After a beat, George notices him.

SAM:

I have to pay back what you flushed down

the toilet.

(beat)

I want ten dollars an hour...then I'm

done.

George nods. He points out the roofless shell of a shack.

GEORGE:

It all has to come down before we can

start again.

(beat)

Knock it down.

George picks up a sledghammer and hands it to Sam. Sam

hoists the hefty hammer and with some true effort, slams it

on a sideboard. He slams again and again as George picks up

a slightly smaller sledgehammer.

GEORGE (CONT'D)

I hated this house from the second my

father cheated everyone and put it in my

name.

George takes a good hard whack at the wall, knocking a huge

hunk of it down. Sam stops to watch.

GEORGE (CONT'D)

Twenty years of hating what you live

in...what you are. This is the end of

it, Sam. I'm gonna build something of me

here that I can be proud to give to you.

SAM:

Don't. I don't want it.

George YELLS as he lands the hammer into the wall again. Sam

is alarmed by his father's blatant rage.

GEORGE:

Do whatever you want with it. I don't

care. All I want from you is for you to

remember we built this house together.

SAM:

We haven't build sh*t. You're just

tearing down your father.

GEORGE:

Try it. It feels good.

George strikes another blow to the house joined with a MAD

WAIL. Sam starts low, a whisper of a scream, but quickly

builds, soon rivaling George in volume as he pounds away.

This soul letting, cleansing ritual is both impelling and

frightening to watch. Tom and Barbara, Colleen and her maid

step out of their houses, drawn and perplexed by the guttural

noise.

INT. RYAN AND ADAM'S ROOM - MORNING

Both boys are asleep as Robin enters and wakes them with the

drop-and-bounce-back-to-your-feet-from-the-mattress method.

ROBIN:

It's morning, sleepyheads!

They both wake with a groan. Robin leaps onto Adam and

tickles him to life.

INT. ROBIN'S KITCHEN - MORNING

Robin is quickly finishing a breakfast of oatmeal and fresh

fruit with Adam and Ryan, who are still dressed in pajamas.

RYAN:

Why do we have to get up and eat with you

this early?

ROBIN:

I just thought it would be nice.

ADAM:

Are you going to see Sam again?

ROBIN:

I thought I might stop by.

RYAN:

All day again?

ROBIN:

Not all day. I'll be home after lunch.

Robin stands and dumps her dishes in the sink.

ROBIN (CONT'D)

You can go back to bed...or Lois might

let you go swimming.

ADAM:

I wanna be with you today.

ROBIN:

Oh, honey. There's not much to do there.

I mean, it's all work.

ADAM:

We can work.

Robin focuses on her sons, both of whom seem willing to work.

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