My Town Page #4

It's not right.

Oh, do you think running off with another man and leaving those two children,

is that right?

Throwing out pictures won't change that, Mr. Wheeler.

Ain't nothing gonna change that.

Meat won't be fit to eat in an hour.

Yeah.

Hey, that's a real pretty shirt you got there. You get it in Cincinnati?

Look, I know you think I'm against you and Miss Adams,

but that's not true.

I like her.

I like her very much.

You sure have a totally weird way of showing it.

Or are you just afraid to stand up to this town?

Honey, I have stood up so much that my legs hurt.

You know something, I find that maybe by sitting down sometimes

and sort of compromising, you can accomplish an awful lot more.

That's a cop-out.

Do you think that I don't want her to succeed, huh?

Hey, look, I brought her here.

I don't know.

LUCAS:
You can't live in the past, honey.

It'll only make you sad.

What would you know about it?

If you had your way, I wouldn't know anything about the past.

I just...

I just don't wanna see you get hurt, that's all.

Expecting your mother to come back.

She will come back, I know she will.

You didn't like her before Daddy died.

You were glad when she didn't come, I know you were.

Now, wait, wait, wait...

And now you're gonna sit by and let Miss Adams go too.

That's not true.

I don't wanna listen to you anymore.

All you ever do is talk.

Talk and tell stories and everyone thinks you're great.

Well, I don't think you're great. I think you're a phony.

A mean phony and I hate you.

(CROWD CHANTING ANGRILY)

AMBER:
Well, Fletcher Mays got his way. A special school board meeting was called.

A public hearing. Miss Adams says she won't go. Can't blame her.

Who wants to attend your own funeral?

I can't go, no kids allowed.

First they don't want us to know about our bodies.

Now they don't want us to know

why they don't want us to know.

(CHANTING) We need Miss Adams! We need Miss Adams! We need Miss Adams!

AMBER:
The Fishers are talking about going back to LA.

It's either that or turn the diner into a halfway house.

Tug'll have withdrawal if they leave.

He and Billy spend more time together than Batman and Robin.

What are you worried about?

The car's gone.

They're at the meeting, just like everyone else.

What if they come back early?

Why would they come back early?

Maybe they get bored easy, there could be lots of reasons.

(GAVEL BANGING)

FLETCHER:
Quiet! Please, quiet!

(GAVEL BANGING)

Please sit down, quiet.

(GAVEL BANGING)

Quiet, please, we'd like to begin, so sit down, please.

You almost done yet?

Almost, I just have one more on the roll.

Well, hurry up. I wanna get out of here before someone...

(CAR DOOR SLAMS)

Comes back early.

Shh!

They're going in the house.

Good, cause we're going.

Somebody down there?

He's going away.

Okay, we gotta make a run for it. On the count of three...

One...

And so far we've managed to grow up, get married and raise our children.

Now, I don't know about you, but I don't want to be like New York

and we don't want their ideas on what to teach our kids.

You go down to 42nd Street sometime and you'll know what I mean.

(CROWD MURMURING)

FLETCHER:
Let me say that we all appreciate

the good intentions of certain people on the school board.

But, uh, there are some things that go beyond the boundaries of decency.

Like open discussions of sex in public schools.

He's catching up!

This way!

Now this town lives by standards that were made by people of

strong, good, moral stock.

Like you people!

(CROWD MURMURS APPRECIATIVELY)

The suspense was killing me.

So, why not just get it over with.

I mean, Laura Adams should be fired. Because if she's not,

then you gotta ask yourself this...

"What's gonna stop her from going even farther next year?"

(CROWD MURMURING APPROVINGLY)

(BOTH PANTING)

Whoa!

I know a shortcut.

I thought that was the shortcut.

Wait here for a minute, okay, let's just take this creek to town.

And if we can just make it to the bridge.

We're here.

We made it. We actually made it.

(GUNSHOT)

Well, I suppose the board has a pretty good idea how you folks feel about this.

Um, I suppose you have something to say, Lucas?

(SIGHS)

Don't mind if I do.

You know, I guess I know most of you about as well as any man knows his neighbors.

Right?

I mean, I see you every day at the bank, church,

and your businesses on the street or wherever.

There's one think I know is a fact about you people here in Wheelerville.

And that is that you are fair.

Oh, that's not to say you don't have certain ideas

about the way things should be done.

But you see, you've always been willing to give people a chance.

Now I know that Miss Adams has some ideas that seem different.

But, I don't think it's Miss Adams that you're afraid of.

It's your kids.

(LAUGHING) That's the funniest thing I've ever heard, Lucas!

Why should we be afraid of our own kids?

Because they might find out that their mamas and their daddies don't know

as much as they did.

Hey, Elvin... Hey, Elvin, who told you about the facts of life?

I don't know, Lucas, far as I recall, nobody did.

Who taught you?

Well now, as far as I can recall, Elvin...

You did.

(CROWD LAUGHING)

SLOVAK:
It's very dangerous sneaking in a cellar like that, boys.

I could have shot you.

We're real sorry, Mr. Slovak. Just a couple of stupid kids, you know?

This is a very expensive radio, I saved a long time for it.

Lucky you didn't break the microphone.

We won't touch it again, Mr. Slovak. Promise.

Good, you know, with this radio you can call over the world.

It's very powerful.

Even as far as Russia?

Oh, yeah, every day I call Moscow.

Helping a family to find their relative in Ohio.

Mr. Volcheck.

Hasn't seen his brother for many years.

You mean, you're just helping some dude find his brother?

Mmm-hmm, ham radio operators help many people in foreign countries.

I mean this time, the Immigration Department is very slow.

They promised to help, and still I haven't heard from them.

Everything takes time. I'm getting used to that.

For two months now, I'm waiting for the hydraulic lift for my garage.

One more week they say. Back ordered from the manufacturer they say.

How can I open a garage without a hydraulic lift?

You don't actually believe him, do you?

Give me a break, will you?

Can't you see he's lying through his teeth?

He had to tell us something.

Well, it sounded real good to me.

Sure, spies are smart, Billy.

How do you think they got to be spies?

(CROWD LAUGHING)

LUCAS:
And that's a fact.

Besides, how can we condemn Miss Adams for something

we spent the last few minutes doing ourselves.

And what might that be, Lucas?

Talking about sex, Fletcher, in public.

BOARD MEMBER:
Could you please get to the point, Lucas?

We're getting later by the story.

The point is that ignorance is dangerous, it breeds fear.

And that fear grows, well it grows like a sickness.

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