My Own Private Idaho Page #12

MIKE:

Twenty-one.

BROTHER:

Is that how old you are now? I

thought you wuz younger than

that... what? Well anyway, we

would start off in the morning to

see you, and it would take an hour

to get to the institution. You

were maybe one year old. What? I

wasn't proud that you had to live

in an institution, mind you... but

all the same, when I would look at

you, all the institutional walls

would come down and we were a

family. Your mom, me, and you. God

knows where dad was.

Mike is getting visibly upset. Scott gets up to go to the

bathroom.

Inside the bathroom night.

Scott enters and notices a velvet portrait of a woman hanging on

the wall. Off screen Scott can hear Mike and his Brother.

MIKE (o.s.)

I don't belong to you, DUDE... I'm

not yours...

BROTHER (o.s.)

(his voice booms out so

unexpectedly deep and loud that

Scott is startled) Shut your

mouth! Don't you talk back...

His brother hits the table with a crash.

Living room night.

BROTHER:

Well... (takes a breath )

Anyway. You were maybe not in the

biological sense, my brother, but in

our business, ~..... (holds his

hands up in the air) And If I'm not

Your brother, how's come you turned

out exactly like me then?

Mike has gotten the jitters and fallen asleep in front of him.

Scott enters from the bathroom.

BROTHER:

Oh, he'll come out or it. It's

like this whenever we get together

It's always like this when we get

together It's the way that we say

hello to each other.

He holds his head down.

BROTHER:

I'm all that he's got. But he

doesn't want me. He doesn't care.

He'd rather live out on the

streets. I love him, though.

Scott looks around the trailer at all the velvet portraits

hanging on the walls.

BROTHER:

Oh. I paint these for a living.

But sometimes the people don't

send the check when they get

finished. So I keep them. I like

them.

Ext. Trailer. Night.

Mike and his brother sip iced tea. Colored lights decorate the

trailer.

BROTHER:

Want me to tell you what happened

to your Mom? Have you ever heard

it? Did you ever hear what the

hell happened to her?

MIKE:

No. But I don't care.

BROTHER:

You loved her, and don't tell know

you did. me you didn't. I

MIKE:

I didn't even know her.

BROTHER:

Yeah, you loved her, though.

MIKE:

I already heard what happened to

her.

BROTHER:

But you don't know the whole

story. One thing about the truth.

It's interesting.

MIKE:

I don't care.

BROTHER:

If you had known her, you would

care. She would see guys on the

side. At night. When I wouldn't be

around... maybe I'd be in San

Francisco or some darned place,

doing my own business. God knows

where. She would see guys...

yeah.... anyway along comes this

guy. A guy we both knew. A guy who

was into cards. A gamblin' man.

And he said that he used to herd

cattle in Argentina. I dunno,

maybe he did, and he had a bit of

money. More'n I had at that point

in time. But it was funny, the way

he gambled. He was not safe in the

friends that he made. So his money

would come and go real fast....

MIKE:

I never heard this one before.

BROTHER:

So this guy, your Mom fell for.

What? She went cuckoo over this

guy. Well, their affair went on

for a year or so and your mom

wanted to marry this guy. She was

already married to our real dad.

So he said no. He didn't love her

anyways. But she wanted him to

marry her. And to have a little

family. That's when you were born.

As a matter of fact, you were

really the cause of this whole

mess. She wanted to make a little

family and take you and this guy

someplace and set something up.

(slaps his leg with his hand)

A family thing! Ridiculous, right. A

card man. Had a bunch of money, but

could have just as well lost it on

his next hand. Probably did too. Well

you'll see what I'm getting at.

MIKE:

That's not how I heard it.

BROTHER:

Yeah, I know. You heard it from me

and I'm telling it different this

time, see? So this Mom of yours

found herself a f***in' gun. I

thought she was going to blow me

away with it one night. She got so

into this gun. She would flash it

to anybody that gave her trouble.

She would sleep with it. Yeah...

strange, huh? She would stir fry

vegetables with the loaded gun.

What? I mean What? I used to

say, politely, "Mom, don't go

stirring up dinner with the gun,

now, you'll blow a hole in the

frying pan." What?

Mike begins to cry.

BROTHER:

And she used to do other things

with this gun. Sexy things with

it. Oh, boy, she was into this

thing. I just thought it was some

sort of weird phase that she was

going through. And so anyway, this

guy, who she was cuckoo over,

brought her to the movies one

night. A drive-in movie in a

stolen car, don't-chaknow, what?

And the movie was.... ah.... RIO

BRAVO or some sh*t like that. And

well, she went and shot this

guy.... don't-cha-know.

MIKE:

You're making this up as you go

along, bro.

BROTHER:

And they didn't find him until the

next show, RIO BRAVO playing on

the big screen. Spilled popcorn

soaking up the blood.

Mike begins to really cry now, bawling and coughing.

SCOTT:

(who has been listening)

Oh, come on, how corny, man....

BROTHER:

No. Your mom had to split, and

split she did. And that guy. That

guy was your real father.

MIKE (sniffs)

I knew that was coming. You sure

do like to make me cry, bro.

BROTHER:

And I got this card from her, not

too awful long ago. Maybe a year.

Mike's Brother hands him a postcard with a Holiday Inn motel on

the front of it. Written on the card, Mike's mom says she is

working as a waitress there, in the "Blue Room" of the Holiday

Inn off Interstate 85 outside Boise, Idaho. He also hands him a

picture of his mom.

Mike and Scott wore sunglasses as they journeyed onward to the

Blue Room, Scott driving the motorcycle and Mike riding on the

back.

Night time exterior of the Holiday Inn.

Mike and Scott pull up on the motorcycle and park it.

Inside the Holiday Inn.

A hostess is standing in front of a sign that bills "Shecky

Crude" as the featured entertainer of the evening in the "Blue

Room."

Mike is speaking to the hostess. He shows her his picture of mom.

MIKE:

My mother works here. Her name is

Dorothy.

HOSTESS:

(thinks for a second)

No. I can't think of anyone by that

name. Let me get the manager.

The hostess picks up the phone.

Manager's office night.

A MANAGER is sitting behind his desk wearing a shiny blue suit,

he shifts in his swiveling chair, and looks at the Holiday Inn

Postcard that Mike's mother sent to his father.

MANAGER:

Dorothy, Dorothy There was a

Dorothy Biondi used to work here a

year ago, but she split. Saved up

all her money and headed to Italy.

MIKE:

To Italy?

MANAGER:

Yeah. It took her forever to save

any cash, but she did, and flew

away. She was looking for her

family. I guess she came from

Italy. But she didn't look

Italian.

SCOTT:

Was your mom Italian?

MIKE:

I don't know. I guess that she

was.

In the lobby of the Holiday Inn at night.

Mike and Scott witness the arrival of the German Mercedes Benz

parts salesman.

SCOTT:

There's that guy.

MIKE:

Who?

SCOTT:

The guy who gave us a ride from

Portland. What's he doing here?

Scott and Mike walk up to him. HANS turns and a broad smile

crosses his face.

HANS:

Mike! Scottie! How good to run

into you! My dear boys! How have

you been?

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