Nocturnal Animals Page #9

EDWARD:

Susan! God it’s good to see someone

I know.

He looks her up and down.

EDWARD (CONT’D)

You look beautiful. As always.

They kiss on the cheek. As they do, Edward pulls her close.

We see him breathe in deeply and close his eyes.

SUSAN:

What are you doing in New York?

EDWARD:

I am here for a scholarship

interview at Columbia.

51.

SUSAN:

Columbia? I thought that you were

at the University of Texas,

becoming a great writer.

EDWARD:

I am. Becoming a great writer? I

don’t know. Are you still at Yale

becoming a great artist?

SUSAN:

Columbia graduate school. Art

History.

They look silently at each other for a moment.

SUSAN (CONT’D)

Do you know anyone here?

EDWARD:

Just you.

SUSAN:

Would you like to have dinner?

EDWARD:

Absolutely.

SUSAN:

Walk me home and I’ll drop these

off.

Edward takes her shopping bags.

SUSAN (CONT’D)

Thank you. I miss Texas men.

45

FLASHBACK - INT. MR. CHOW RESTAURANT, NEW YORK. LATER THAT45

EVENING.

Susan and Edward are finished with dinner and are having

drinks. It is clear that they have already had a few as the

atmosphere between them is warm and intimate.

EDWARD:

You know, you were my first crush

when we were at Hastings. I really

only spent so much time with your

brother to be around you.

52.

SUSAN:

And you were his first crush.

EDWARD:

What? I had no idea Cooper was gay.

SUSAN:

I don’t think he did either. Then.

But he was obsessed with you. If I

hadn’t caught you looking at me all

the time I would have thought the

two of you were sleeping together.

EDWARD:

I feel terrible that I haven’t

spoken to him in a few years. I

haven’t been a very good friend. I

hope that I didn’t hurt him.

SUSAN:

You’re good you know. Most guys

would be freaked out to find out

that their best friend had been in

love with them. Call him, he’d like

that. My parents have basically

disowned him. They don’t really

speak anymore.

EDWARD:

Why?

SUSAN:

Are you kidding? You know my

parents. Religious, conservative,

sexist, racist, materialistic,

Republican, narcissistic.

EDWARD:

What do you really think Susan?

SUSAN:

It’s true. They’re pretty narrow.

They look at us as just an

extension of themselves. They can’t

accept Cooper for who he is. I’m

not sure how I will fare.

53.

EDWARD:

Aren’t you being a little hard on

them?

SUSAN:

No. I don’t think so. They have a

pretty antiquated idea about how I

am supposed to live my life. My

mother especially.

EDWARD:

I’ve always loved your mother. She

was great with me when my father

died.

Edward looks at her.

EDWARD (CONT’D)

You both have the same kind of

sadness in your eyes.

SUSAN:

What?

EDWARD:

You and your mother.

SUSAN:

What a weird thing to say.

EDWARD:

I’m sorry. I hope that doesn’t

offend you. But she has always

seemed sad to me. She has sad eyes.

I’ve thought that since I was a

little boy. You have the same eyes.

They’re beautiful.

SUSAN:

Please don’t say that. I don’t want

to be like my mother.

EDWARD:

I always envied your family. I felt

like a complete imposter at school.

SUSAN:

I thought I was the only one that

felt that way.

54.

EDWARD:

You?

SUSAN:

I tried so hard to seem perfect.

EDWARD:

And you don’t feel that way?

SUSAN:

No.

Edward looks at her. He smiles.

EDWARD:

But that’s exactly what makes you

so perfect.

SUSAN:

You’ll definitely make a great

novelist. You’ve created a

completely fictitious character in

your head.

EDWARD:

No. I don’t believe that.

He looks into her eyes.

EDWARD (CONT’D)

Why did you give up on becoming an

artist?

SUSAN:

I’m too cynical to be an artist. I

think to be good, you have to

create from some sort of place

inside that I’m not sure that I

have.

EDWARD:

You really underestimate yourself

you know.

Susan stares directly into Edward’s eyes.

SUSAN:

Would you come home with me?

55.

EDWARD:

Wow. That’s is a bit forward. Not

what I’d expect from a Texas

debutante.

SUSAN:

You know debutantes are all sluts.

(Pause) And you know, you were my

first crush too.

Edward smiles at this.

EDWARD:

I know.

She smiles at him. He smiles back.

Edward’s face slowly morphs into that of Tony’s as our

flashback dissolves.

END FLASHBACK:

46 INT. POLICE STATION, WEST TEXAS. LATER THAT DAY. 46

As Edward’s smile fades in our flashback, Tony’s stunned face

becomes clear as he sits alone in the glass room.

Bobby Andes walks into the room.

ANDES:

We got a report from Ozona. Someone

else harassed on the highway last

night just like you.

Bobby hesitates. He puts his hand on Tony’s shoulder.

ANDES (CONT’D)

If you don’t mind, we’ll need your

finger prints.

TONY:

Mine?

ANDES:

No offense, it’s just that we found

some prints on the trunk of your

car.

56.

Bobby pauses.

ANDES (CONT’D)

There’s somethin else.

TONY:

Yes?

ANDES:

We got a cause of death.

Tony slumps in his chair.

ANDES (CONT’D)

Your wife had a fractured skull.

She appears to have been struck

with a hammer, or baseball bat.

Only once or twice. Your daughter

had a harder time. She was

suffocated.

He waits for Tony to take this in.

ANDES (CONT’D)

She also had a broken arm.

He watches Tony. He pauses.

ANDES (CONT’D)

And they had both been raped.

Tony stares blankly ahead.

BOBBY:

You were also right about that

trailer.

TONY:

How?

ANDES:

I mean your friends took your folks

there just like you thought.

TONY:

How do you know that?

57.

ANDES:

We found your wife’s finger prints

on the bed post.

TONY:

Whose trailer is it?

ANDES:

He’s clear. Guy who lives in El

Paso. The place had been broken

into. Someone’s been living in it.

We got other prints too in the

trailer. We’ll have to check them

against the owner’s and see if we

can separate them out. But I’m

hopeful. The owner hasn’t been

there since last fall. (Pause) It

looks promising.

Tony looks up at Andes.

TONY:

Promising?

47

INT. MORROW RESIDENCE - SUSAN’S BEDROOM. NIGHT -- LATER. 47

Susan lies in her bed deep in thought.

48

FLASHBACK - INT. HIGHLAND PARK GRILL ROOM, DALLAS TEXAS. 48

1996 -- EVENING.

Susan and her mother, ANNE SUTTON, 48, are having dinner. The

atmosphere at the table is tense.

ANNE:

Why didn’t you tell me this before?

Susan’s mother sits quietly fuming. She speaks calmly but

there is an edge to her voice.

ANNE (CONT’D)

You are actually going to leave New

York and move to Austin to go to

the god damned University of Texas?

I thought you loved Columbia.

(MORE)

58.

ANNE (CONT’D)

What happened to their “great art

history department”?

She pauses a moment.

Susan, why are you doing this? I

mean, where is this going to go?

SUSAN:

What do you mean where is it going

to go? I’m going to marry Edward.

That’s where it’s going to go.

ANNE:

This is a ridiculous conversation.

You’re too young to get married.

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