Lone Star Page #10

CLIFF:

Mikey--

MIKEY:

Her parents acted like I was gonna

blow my nose on their curtains--

CLIFF:

Mikey--

MIKEY:

If I stayed out past ten with the

guys she'd go into her Madame

Butterfly routine--

CLIFF:

Mikey look at this--

MIKEY:

What--it's a bullet. I'm lousy

with bullets here.

CLIFF:

it's a .45.

MIKEY:

Yeah?

CLIFF:

This is the stuff we picked up

the other day, right? The rest

of this is all .30 caliber--

MIKEY:

They were using M-1's, yeah--

CLIFF:

What's it doing on a rifle range?

MIKEY holds the slug in front of his face--

MIKEY:

We better call that Sheriff.

EXT. SAN JACINTO STREET -- DAY

Hollis is finishing his oration, having put the crowd in a

good mood.

HOLLIS:

Sometime in the early '70s a

reporter from a national magazine

was talking to the governor of

our Lone Star state, and he asked

him, "Governor, what's your ideal

of what a real Texan ought to

be?" Governor said, "That's easy,

son-you just go down to Rio County

and get a look at Sheriff Buddy

Deeds."

Applause--

SAM:

Watching the crowd --

SAM'S POV

We PAN with his gaze across smiling faces, till he comes to

Danny and a couple of Chicano friends, looking grim. We

RACK FOCUS beyond them to see Pilar, watching the ceremony

from a few yards back--

HOLLIS (O.S.)

Thank you. We've got one more

person to hear from--

HOLLIS:

HOLLIS:

--and he's somebody who probably

knew Buddy better than any of us,

Sam--would you say a few words?

SAM:

Not thrilled to be called on. He steps forward reluctantly

to APPLAUSE--

SAM:

You folks who remember my father

knew him as Sheriff. But at home

he was also judge, jury

He looks to Hollis--

SAM:

--and executioner.

LAUGHTER. Sam holds Hollis's eyes for a moment before

continuing--

SAM:

This is a real honor you're doing

him today, and if Buddy was around

I'm sure his hat size would be

gettin' bigger every minute.

PILAR:

Watching --

SAM (O.S.)

I used to come to this park to

hide from him. Now that you're

putting his name on it--

SAM:

SAM:

I'll have to find someplace new

to duck out.

More LAUGHTER--

SAM:

I do appreciate it, and wherever

he is, Buddy's puttin' the beer

on ice for the bunch of you.

Thank you.

APPLAUSE -- Sam steps back and Mercedes steps forward with

her scissors without looking at him--

HOLLIS:

And now my fellow Council member

and one of Frontera's most

respected businesswomen, Mrs.

Mercedes Cruz, will do the honors

for us

MERCEDES:

She freezes, smiling, till the still photographers have gotten

their shots, then snips the cord to a pulley system that

lets the cloth drop--

STATUE:

The cloth drops to reveal a bas-relief in brass set in a

block of smooth limestone. A decent likeness of Buddy in

uniform, his hand on the shoulder of a small Chicano-looking

boy who stands beside him, eyes raised worshIpfully. APPLAUSE

from the gathering--

SAM:

Watching, a bit removed, as Mercedes shakes hands with Jorge

and H. L. and Hollis for the cameras. He overhears a pair

of BYSTANDERS who are checking out the statue--

BYSTANDER 1 (O.S.)

It does look like old Buddy.

BYSTANDER 2 (O.S.)

Runnin that kid in for loiterin'--

The bystanders LAUGH -- Sam steps away, intercepting Mercedes

as she steps away--

SAM:

Nice to see you, Mrs. Cruz.

Mercedes just looks at him, keeps going. His gaze brings

him to Pilar, standing on the sidewalk, watching.

SAM:

Steps over from the dispersing crowd--

SAM:

Field trip?

PILAR:

Lunch hour. My next class isn't

till nine-thirty.

SAM:

Want to take a walk?

EXT. RIVERSIDE -- DAY

Sam and PILAR walk together alongside the Rio --

SAM:

Your mother still doesn't like

me,

PILAR:

I can't name anybody she does

like these days.

SAM:

I see she built a place up here

by the river.

PILAR:

A real palace. She rattles around

alone in that thing--

SAM:

She's done well for herself--on

her own and all--

PILAR:

So she tells me three times a

week.

She looks at him--

PILAR:

I thought you got through that

pretty well.

SAM:

They cooked the whole thing up

without asking me.

PILAR:

People liked him.

SAM:

Most people did, yeah.

PILAR:

I remember him watching me once.

When I was little--before you and

I--

She shrugs.

PILAR:

I was on the playground with all

the other kids, but I thought he

was only looking at me. I was

afraid he was going to arrest me--

he had those eyes, you know--

SAM:

Yeah.

PILAR:

Weird what you remember.

They walk in silence a moment--

SAM:

Your boy, there--

PILAR:

Amado.

SAM:

Nice-looking kid.

PILAR:

He hates me.

SAM:

No--

PILAR:

With Paloma, it's more like she

pities and tolerates me-totally

age-appropriate. But Amado--he's--

he's never been book-smart. Had

a hard time learning to read. Me

being a teacher and caring about

those things is like an

embarrassment--like a betrayal.

SAM:

Fernando did okay, and he dropped

out--

PILAR:

Fernando wasn't pissed off at

everybody. He just wanted to fix

their cars.

SAM:

It might just be the age. I spent

my first fifteen years trying to

be just like Buddy and the next

fifteen trying to give him a heart

attack.

She looks at him--

PILAR:

So why did you come back here,

Sam?

SAM:

Got divorced, I wasn't gonna work

for my father-in-law anymore.

The fellas down here said they'd

back me--

PILAR:

You don't want to be Sheriff.

SAM:

I got to admit it's not what I

thought it'd be. Back When Buddy

had it--hell, I'm just a jailer.

Run a 60-room hotel with bars on

the windows.

PILAR:

It can happen so sudden, can't

it? Being left out on your own.

SAM:

YOu've got your mother, your kids--

PILAR:

They've got me. Different thing.

They stop at a spot where you can climb down the bank--

SAM:

Remember this?

PILAR looks at the spot. She isn't ready to deal with

whatever memory it brings back--

PILAR:

I should get back.

SAM:

Pilar--

PILAR:

Looks real bad if the teacher's

late for class. It's really nice

to talk with you, Sam.

She waves and walks away, feeling awkward. Sam watches for

a minute, then turns and steps down to The bank, He looks at

the water

RIVER SURFACE:

A little piece of tree bark is tossed onto the water and

drifts away with the current. We TILT UP to see YOUNG PILAR

tossing bark into the river as YOUNG SAM sits on the bank

beside her. They are 14 and 15 years old--

It is 1972 --

YOUNG SAM:

You going to tell her?

YOUNG PILAR:

You going to tell him?

YOUNG SAM:

He doesn't need to know all my

business.

YOUNG PILAR:

He's gonna find out.

YOUNG SAM:

So? What's he gonna do, arrest

us?

Young Pilar frowns, tosses more bark--

YOUNG PILAR:

It's supposed to be some big sin,

even if you love each other.

YOUNG SAM:

You believe that?

CU YOUNG PILAR:

She turns to look at him --

YOUNG PILAR:

No.

We PAN with her gaze to see Sam, PRESENT DAY, sitting on the

bank, lost in thought--

SAM:

Me neither.

EXT. ARMY POST -- DAY

ATHENA WALKING BETWEEN buildings, looking a bit out of it.

Sergeant Worth cuts into her--

PRISCILLA:

Private Johnson!

ATHENA:

Sergeant?

PRISCILLA:

Report to Dr. Innis at the clinic.

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