Meat My Uncle Page #6

No.

Just no.

MOTHER JANE:

MOTHER:

James. Wake up.

James startles awake and sees the...

39 INT. SUV - DAY 39

...interior of the SUV as they roll down the highway. Everything is back to normal.

Din looks at him.

DIN:

What did that mean?

JAMES:

What did what mean?

Mother looks at him.

MOTHER:

It’s his mantra.

Mantra?

DIN:

42.

MOTHER:

Yeah. A little trick his psych

taught him to get out of a bad

dream.

Din nods, understanding.

Mom? Yeah?

JAMES MOTHER JAMES

What happened to dad? Why can’t we

help him?

A collective breath is held and the silence is deafening. Din’s game beeps, breaking the spell.

MOTHER:

Why do you ask, James?

JAMES:

I just had a dream.

MOTHER:

About what?

James hesitates.

UNCLE JONES:

I told you this day was coming.

Mother looks at Uncle Jonas as he stares straight ahead, then at James.

MOTHER:

Can you describe the person you

saw?

James shrugs.

JAMES:

Tall, I guess. There was a light in

his mouth.

Mother laughs mirthlessly.

UNCLE JONES:

The road less traveled.

43.

JANE:

Less is an understatement.

Mother glares at Jane.

MOTHER:

You don’t know enough about it

Jane.

Mother looks at James.

MOTHER (CONT’D)

Your dad and I didn’t see eye to

eye on a lot of things.

Like what?

JAMES MOTHER:

He wanted to raise you one way. I

wanted to do it differently.

JAMES:

And you won?

It’s silent again. Even Din’s game is quiet.

MOTHER:

There were no winners. There’s

never a winner in a situation like

this.

James ponders.

JAMES:

What does ‘the road less traveled’

mean?

MOTHER:

It means your dad didn’t want to

accept me the way I am.

Din looks at James.

MOTHER (CONT’D)

I don’t identify as a woman, James. You’ve known that forever. Your dad couldn’t accept that. I was upfront with him about it and he just

didn’t understand.

JAMES:

You have the body of a woman.

44.

MOTHER:

Yes, but inside my heart I’m as

male as you, or Dan, or any of the

other guys in this car.

JAMES:

So why’d dad leave?

MOTHER:

He couldn’t handle it.

JAMES:

Has dad ever...

MOTHER:

Enough, James.

But I...

JAMES MOTHER:

I said enough.

James clamps his mouth shut. Uncle James reaches over and turns the volume up on the stereo, filling the silence with music.

40 INT. SUV - NIGHT 40 James looks over at Din. Din looks up from his game.

DIN:

Moo says the pig. What does the pig

say, James?

James looks at his hands. They’ve shrunk to the size of doll hands. He lifts his tiny hands to his head which has blown up like a balloon.

JAMES:

My head. It’s enormous.

DIN:

Moo says the...

JAMES:

...and my hands are so tiny.

He holds them up for Din to see.

Jane looks over the back seat. She looks like she’s thirteen years old, flat chested, face covered in pimples. Jane puts her hands over her eyes, then quickly opens them.

45.

JANE:

Peek a boo!

Baa.

JAMES MOTHER:

You’re a good moose James. What

does a pig say?

He frowns.

MOTHER (CONT’D)

You’re such a good moose, James.

Uncle Jones is driving, but his hands aren’t on the wheel, he’s holding a giant soup bowl. He slurps.

JAMES:

What’s going on? Where’d Uncle

Jones get the soup? Why is my brain

doing this to me?

Everybody in the SUV looks at him.

JAMES (CONT’D)

To hide something?

Everyone smiles. Jane is eighteen again. Uncle Jones’s hands are on the wheel.

MOTHER:

Very good, son. Now wake up.

James stirs, opens his eyes, and looks around.

41 INT. SUV - DAY 41 Everything looks normal.

Din nudges James.

DIN:

Hey. Snoozin’ pretty good there.

JAMES:

Yeah, I guess so.

He looks out the window. Nothing but trees.

JAMES (CONT’D)

Is there any more water?

46.

Jane hands him a bottle.

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