Like Dandelion Dust Page #3

- A suitable environment?

Joey's not going anywhere.

You can leave now, Ms. Bower.

Good-bye.

Mr. Campbell,

I understand your frustration...

But it's either me...

Or two uniformed police officers.

Ive done it both ways.

Believe me, this way is best for Joey.

Ms. Bower...

If anything happens to my son

while I'm clearing this mess up...

Im gonna hold you personally responsible.

Jack. Jack.

Come here, baby.

Good morning.

You must be Joey. I'm Allyson.

Hey, sweetie?

- Listen to Mom, okay?

- No.

- This is the woman that's

gonna take you to Ohio. - No!

- It's okay, sweetie.

- No!

Baby, it's gonna be okay.

Mommy and Daddy love you so much.

- I don't wanna go! - It's gonna be okay.

We'll be right here when you get back.

- Will you give me a moment with my family?

- Of course.

Come here, sweetie.

We have to put your jacket on.

Listen.

I want you to be a big boy, okay?

Okay, you be brave.

I know you can.

I wanna stay with you.

Will you come with me to the airplane?

We can't go with you to the airplane.

- I'm gonna take you to the car, okay?

- No.

- I'm sorry.

- Please, I don't want to go.

Please don't take me.

I don't wanna go!

No, I don't wanna go!

Rip, they're here.

They're here.

- He's got your eyes.

- Yeah?

- Ain't that somethin'?

- Hello.

Let me get the gate for ya.

Ready?

Mr. and Mrs. Porter, this is Joey.

Hi there.

What a big, handsome boy you are.

Welcome to our home.

Can I give you a hug?

This is my wife, Wendy...

And, uh...

My name's Richard.

Some people call me Rip.

You can call me whatever you want.

- Nice to meet you.

- Joey?

Rip and Wendy are your new friends.

Now, you need to listen to them

and obey them...

Just as you would your parents.

You understand?

Is that your suitcase?

Can I get it for you?

Oh, wow!

You got an elephant in there?

You wanna see your room?

I fixed it up myself for you.

Oh, hey, we got a dog

in the back named Camper.

- I got a dog named Gus.

- In the backyard there.

Yeah? Well, come on in.

I need you to sign right there.

Thank you for everything.

Just remember that he's six

and in a new world.

Ill check in tomorrow.

I want their address, Tom.

I want to know where he works.

Give me his rap sheet,

anything else you can get your hands on.

I need this done, and I need it now.

- You understand?

- You need to be careful Court orders-

I've been careful, Tom, and Joey's gone.

- Now, please.

- Okay I'll take care of it

I'm gonna go to Ohio

and see what this guy wants.

- Whoa! This is so cool!

- Yeah?

Wait. Check this out.

For bringing up lunch.

Oh, yeah.

Get up on top.

- Ready?

- Yep.

All right.

Okay, you're gonna put it in up here.

Watch my fingers.

Give her a good smack.

There you go.

- Oh!

- Yeah!

- One, two, three.

- Camper. Go get it!

- Cookies!

- Hey!

Actually, sorry.

No girls allowed.

Aw. I guess I'm gonna

have to take them back then.

You have some cookies, so you can come up.

- I guess you can come up if

you have cookies. - Okay.

So, little Joe, what do you like to do?

I mostly like to sail.

I know how to steer a boat myself.

Do your mom and dad have a boat?

Yeah, a big sailboat.

But it also has a motor.

- Mmm.

- You know what we could do?

We could go up to Dillon Lake tomorrow.

They got these little boats

that you can rent. You can steer it.

- How 'bout that?

- Yeah, that could be fun.

Im done with my cookies now.

So, ready to take a shower, little man?

I don't like showers.

Listen, you gotta get cleaned up

before bed, right?

Can't go to bed dirty.

I don't wanna shower.

I just wanna go home.

Can I please go home?

Babe, you know what?

What you could do

is go to the bathroom with Wendy...

And just wash up your face and hands...

And, you know, maybe that'll

make you feel better.

- Yeah.

- Okay? All right?

That's a great idea.

But, um, next time...

You gotta take a shower, okay?

Okay.

- Hey, let's test the rope swing.

- Yeah!

- All right.

- Oh, boy.

- Ready?

- Have fun.

All right.

Yee-haw!

- Whoo!

- That's pretty cool.

Help!

Hoo-hoo! Whoo!

- All right. Your turn.

- Okay.

What a cute nose you have.

Is it kind of upturned?

Kind of like mine.

Hmm.

It's grape juice.

Non-fermented.

A toast...

To my perfect wife...

And my perfect son.

You know...

Ive been thinkin' a lot

about the day that he was born...

And how I felt when they

took him away from me...

Out of my arms...

And how I was never gonna...

See his little head again...

Or smell his skin.

Hey. Shh, shh, shh, shh.

It's okay.

Nobody-

Nobody's gonna take him

away from us again, okay?

I know.

It's okay.

It's just, um...

His mother must be feeling

the same way I did, maybe worse.

Yeah.

But, babe, somebody's gonna lose.

It's not gonna be us this time.

You are his mother...

And we are his parents...

And it's right for him to be with us.

Okay?

- Okay.

- Just remember.

Appreciate dinner thank you.

Yeah, of course.

So, did Beth mention that we're going away

in a few weeks to Haiti?

- Mm-mmm.

- Yeah.

What's in Haiti?

- We're gonna take the kids on their

first mission trip. - Oh, yeah?

Yeah, we got our new church

to sponsor an orphanage...

That we've been working with

in Port-au-Prince...

And this year we're gonna help 'em

renovate the compound.

We were thinking that

if you guys wanna come...

It might be a good time to get away.

Or Bill can take the kids,

and I can stay here with you.

- You know, it's really whatever you want.

- Stop!

- What, guys?

- Mom, he's writing on my homework.

- I did not.

- Yeah, you did.

- Not tonight.

- Yeah, you know what? I think it's time for bed.

Right now, please.

- Good night, Uncle Jack.

- Good night.

Good night, Mom.

Good night, Dad.

It's really good for them to see

what other parts of the world can be like.

Maybe you should take them to Ohio.

When does he come back?

He comes back tomorrow afternoon.

And then he goes again in two weeks...

And the next time

he doesn't come back at all.

Hey!

- Hi, buddy!

- What's goin' on, J.?

- Oh! Mmm! I missed you.

- Hi, Dad.

- Mmm!

- Look what Wendy gave me.

Wow.

He says it went all right.

And we went to a lake,

and I steered a paddleboat all by myself.

And I didn't want to take a shower...

But Wendy said if I did next time...

She'd get me my own DVD for my room.

- Was Wendy nice to you?

- Yeah.

Wendy was really nice.

She cooks good too.

- How was Rip?

- Good. He's really funny.

We're building a tree house...

And we cut part

of Wendy's pillowcase out...

And then we spray-painted

a skull and crossbone.

And we have a bucket

that, like, she can put something in...

And then we pull it up with the rope.

It's so cool.

They're bribing him.

I never thought

he'd actually want to go back.

- What if he wants to be with them?

- He's six years old.

What if he has some deep connection

to these people?

- Like, he feels that-

- He doesn't even know them.

He came from them, Jack.

Rate this script:0.0 / 0 votes