Rachel, Rachel Page #5

I just hadn't seen you around anywhere

so I thought something might be wrong.

No, I've just been kind of busy.

Yeah, well, I was just passing by.

Oh, Rachel...

...I've been so miserable.

Calla, it's my mother's bridge night.

I'd like to stay out and talk but I really think

I'd better go back upstairs.

You don't know what it's like.

All I do is stare at the phone.

I know it won't ring

and I don't have the courage to call.

You build things up

out of all proportion.

I'm not asking you to go out...

...or even see me...

...but if we could have just one talk.

I mean...

...if this silence goes on,

it'll be impossible at school.

I don't see why.

You might as well give me my note back.

I told you all that was in it...

...and the rest of the confession,

you don't need.

You look wonderful.

You too.

Well, I'm just gonna take

that dirty old queen.

What do you think of them apples?

Are you gonna discard?

Oh, look, there's Hector.

Hello, Hector!

How's my favorite big gamblers

this afternoon?

Oh, we're scalding.

Can't you do something

about the humidity, Hector?

If you're a real friend, you would.

I have here two quarts

of ripple fudge ice cream in this bag...

...and I'd love to accommodate you girls

before it melts.

Thank you, Hector, but I'm a vanilla girl.

Or rather, I was.

Cold rich things on a warm day

only make you warmer, Hector.

I tried.

What's so funny?

Well, I finally wormed it out of him.

Why, he smells so much nicer

than your father did.

He smells just like a pine tree, you know.

He told me that now

they're putting perfume...

...into the embalming fluid.

Pine, cedar, rose,

any pretty scent you like.

Your father always smelled

of formaldehyde.

Stuck to his clothes,

it clung to everything he touched.

Just like those nasty wolverines I read

about in the National Geographic.

They leave their stench on everything

they catch so that nothing else will eat it.

When he died

and we aired out the house...

...I realized that I hadn't taken

a decent breath in 25 years.

RACHEL:
Did she think

he carried death upstairs with him?

Did she think it was catching?

Did I?

Well, I'm going to go down with three.

What do you mean was?

Don't you like vanilla anymore?

No, as a matter of fact,

I think I probably hate it.

[WATER RUNNING]

[PHONE RINGS]

MAY:
Hello.

- Mother, who is it?

Mother?

No, I'm sorry.

She's having her shower right now.

- Who's calling, please?

RACHEL:
I'm coming. I'm coming.

Who's calling, please?

Just a minute. I'm coming.

He says it's a Dr. Timothy Leary.

- Hello.

NICK [O VER PHONE]: Hello.

Oh.

Oh, hello.

NICK [O VER PHONE]:

My folks are away for the weekend...

... so I thought maybe you'd like

to play house.

We've got, like, three bedrooms...

... so we can chase each other

from room-to-room between, you know...

Yes, I'd love to read that book.

It sounds very interesting.

Can you get it from the public library?

NICK [O VER PHONE]:

Oh, you can't talk, right?

Right, at this moment,

I'm Venus Observed.

NICK [O VER PHONE]:

I'll pick you up in an hour.

We can go to the store and stock up...

... and you can cook us huge meals

in between raptures.

RACHEL [O VER PHONE]:

I'd love to see that play at the university.

Uh, I hear it got excellent reviews.

The only trouble is, do you think

we could get back at a decent hour?

NICK [O VER PHONE]:

I'm not planning to take you back at all.

All we have to do is call your mother

and tell her something reassuring...

... like the car went over a cliff.

RACHEL [O VER PHONE]:

Oh, fine.

NICK [O VER PHONE]:

With you in it.

We don't wanna be too hard

on the old heart, right?

[RACHEL LAUGHS]

RACHEL [O VER PHONE]:

You're terrible.

NICK [O VER PHONE]:

Then what are you laughing for?

RACHEL [O VER PHONE]:

Goodbye.

[LAUGHS]

Hey.

Wanna go up now?

All right.

[MEOWS]

[EASY LISTENING MUSIC

PLAYING ON RADIO]

NICK:

Try to relax.

RACHEL:

I am. I'm sorry.

- Nick.

- Shh.

[CHUCKLES]

That's a comfortable chuckle.

Are you gonna keep it to yourself

or let me in on it?

I was just...

...remembering...

...a poem that my father saved.

He used to save funny things that people

wanted to have put on their tombstone.

And this one was, uh:

Your days away don't piddle

At every season strive

For once you're past the middle

You're more dead than alive

Isn't that awful?

It's apropos of me.

I don't know, a guy drops dead

in the middle of a piddle deserves...

...to immortalize the moment.

I wanna say something

I've never said before.

What?

I'm happy.

You're just feeling smug

because you've improved a little.

You know what I wish?

For your sake.

So you wouldn't have all that worry

about your father, I've...

Have you ever considered

coming back here?

To live and teaching here and...

Nick?

You stopped breathing.

For a minute, I thought...

Thought what?

When I like somebody...

...I get scared. I sometimes...

I dream about them

being already embalmed.

- But if I hold onto you, nothing can happen.

- Hey, whoa, whoa, whoa.

What time is it?

It's 10 :
0 ...

...and I haven't even fed you yet.

I'm a helluva host.

I can go downstairs...

...and make you an omelet.

Or whatever you want.

I don't know what you eat.

Nick, I'm sorry.

I didn't mean to surround you like that...

...I was only joking.

I'm not breakable.

See? All in one piece.

It's just such a new experience,

having contact with anyone.

Just feeling you inside your skin is...

...over...

Just a few cents' worth of chemicals is all

that's under my skin and a lot of water.

We're 90 percent water.

That's not all that's under your skin.

You're a loving person, Nick Kazlik.

Babe, we've only had two dates.

You don't know me at all.

I know enough.

I know enough to say...

...that I love you.

I want a child. L...

Look, I wanna show you something.

I think you should see this.

I am not God.

I can't solve anything.

May I borrow your bathrobe, please?

[CAR PULLS UP]

I'm sorry I didn't get

to cook you that omelet.

Well, you can do that the next time.

You mean that?

Do I ever say anything I don't mean?

Good night.

I'll see you, okay?

Don't forget to call

before the eggs get rotten.

Mother, I'm here.

What is it?

I had an attack, that's what is it.

Doctor said I might have died

from such a shock.

What shock?

It's on your bed.

MAY:
Why didn't you get married

like a normal woman...

...and have children

like your sister Stacey did?

[CLOCK TICKING]

RACHEL:
She watches the street

like a captain watches the sea...

... praying for a funeral to come by

and cheer her up.

And I wait...

... like Calla...

... for the phone to ring.

Oh, Nick.

WOMAN [O VER PHONE]:

Hello.

Hello. Who is speaking, please?

May I speak...

...to Mr. Nick Kazlik, please?

WOMAN [O VER PHONE]:

Nick no here.

Could you, uh...?

When do you expect him back?

WOMAN [O VER PHONE]:

Maybe Christmastime, maybe next year.

My son go away on Sunday.

Rate this script:0.0 / 0 votes