Raising Arizona Page #5

Hi is opening the door with one hand, cradling a baby in the

other.

ED:

Which one ya get?

As he gets into the driver's seat:

HI:

I dunno. Nathan Jr., I think.

ED:

Gimme here.

He hands her the infant, then hands her the copy of Dr.Spock's

Baby and Child Care.

HI:

Here's the instructions.

ED:

Oh, he's beautiful!

Hi nods as he pulls away from the curb.

HI:

He's awful damn good. I think I got

the best one.

Ed is gushing and kissing the baby through the rest of the

conversation.

ED:

I bet they were all beautiful. All

babies are beautiful!

HI:

Yeah. This one's awful damn good

though.

ED:

Don't you cuss around him.

HI:

He's fine, he is. I think it's Nathan

Jr.

ED:

We are doin' the right thing, aren't

we Hi? - I mean, they had more'n

they could handle.

HI:

Well now honey we been over this and

over this. There's what's right and

there's what's right, and never the

twain shall meet.

ED:

But you don't think his momma'll be

upset? I mean overly?

HI:

Well a course she'll be upset, sugar,

but she'll get over it. She's got

four little babies almost as good as

this one. It's like when I was robbin'

convenience stores -

Ed suddenly bursts out crying.

ED:

I love him so much!

HI:

I know you do, honey.

ED:

(still sobbing)

I love him so much!

TRAILER LIVING ROOM

As the lights are thrown on. The room is hung with streamers.

A string of cut-out letters reads "Welcome Home Son!"

HI (O.S.)

Okay, bring him in!

REVERSE:

Ed is entering with Nathan Jr.

HI:

This is it young Nathan Jr. Just

feast your eyes about, old boy!

ED:

Don't be so loud around him, Hi.

HI:

(softly)

Damn, I'm sorry honey.

ED:

And don't you cuss around him.

HI:

Aw, he don't know a cuss word from

shinola.

ED:

Well see that he don't.

HI:

(jovially)

He's all right, he is.

He reaches for the child.

HI:

...Come on over here, Nathan Jr.,

I'll show you around.

He takes the baby in both hands and holds him out at arm's

length, pointing him at the various places of interest. The

baby looks goggle-eyed at each one.

HI:

...Lookahere, young sportsman. That -

there's the kitchen area where Ma

and Pa chow down. Over there's the

TV, two hours a day maximum, either

educational or football so's you

don't ruin your appreciation of the

finer things. This - here's the divan,

for sociahzin' and relaxin' with the

family unit. Yessir, many's the day

we sat there and said wouldn't it be

nice to have a youngster here to

share our thoughts and feelin's -

Impatient with the nonsense:

ED:

He's tired, Hi.

HI:

Well we'll just sit you right there,

boy...

He is propping Nathan Jr. up in the corner of the couch. Hi

sits at the other corner and Ed sits in a facing chair.

HI:

...Just put those dogs up'n take a

load off.

Hi beams at Nathan Jr. Ed smiles at Nathan Jr. Nathan Jr.

looks from one to the other, deadpan. They seem to be waiting

for him to contribute to the conversation.

Silence.

Suddenly Hi slaps his knee.

HI:

What are you kiddin'?! We got a family

here!

Ed is getting up.

HI:

...He's a scandal, honey! He's a

little outlaw!

As she picks up the baby:

ED:

He's a good boy.

HI:

He ain't too good! You can tell by

that twinkle in his eye!

ED:

Don't you think we should put him to

bed?

HI:

Hang on, honey...

He is frantically reaching for a Polaroid camera.

HI:

...Let's us preserve the moment in

pictures!

ED:

Just one, okay?...

She sits down on the couch with Nathan Jr. as Hi starts

screwing the camera into a tripod.

ED:

...I gotta tell ya, I'm a little

scared.

Absently, as he sets up the camera:

HI:

How come is that, honey?

ED:

Well we got a baby, Hi. It's an awful

big responsibility.

As he peers through the lens:

HI:

Honey, could ya slide over a tad and

raise the nipper up?

As she complies:

ED:

I mean we never done this before and

I'm kinda nervous.

HI:

You're doin' real good, sugar.

Hi sits on the couch, holding the camera's cable release. He

puts his arm around Ed and smiles at the offscreen camera.

Ed nestles her head against Hi's shoulder.

ED:

I love you, Hi.

HI:

We're set to pop here, honey.

ED:

You're gonna help, aren't ya?

Through his teeth as he continues to grin at the offscreen

camera:

HI:

How's that, honey?

ED:

Give Nathan Jr. a normal family

background, just quiet evenings at

home together...

We begin to hear distant thunder.

HI:

You can count on it, honey.

ED:

...Everything decent'n normal from

here on out.

HI:

Uh-huh.

As he squeezes the cable release - FLASH - the image

momentarily freezes on Hi beaming, Nathan Jr. staring, and

Ed looking at Hi with a little bit of concern.

DARK FIELD SAME NIGHT

The rolling thunder has built to a thunderclap at the cut,

and the flash of the Polaroid match cuts to lightning throwing

a momentarily harsh glare on the field.

Rain beats down on the bare patch of ground we are looking

at - by now just a patch of mud.

Faraway lightning flickers and we hear the rumble of more

thunder approaching, then suddenly:

THWACK - A head pops up out of the mud. It is Gale, the con

we saw in group therapy. He bellows as lightning and thunder

flash and crack nearby.

His head is covered with mud, although the driving rain is

already starting to wash it away.

We are beginning to track in an arc around Gale's head, who

is now struggling, working to get his shoulders and arms up

out of the mud. The end of the 180-degree arc and a flash of

lightning reveal, way in the distance, the wire-topped walls

of a penitentiary.

Still bellowing, as if in some primal rage, Gale has gotten

his muck-covered arms up out of the earth and is now pushing

down to haul up the rest of his body. It comes with much

effort, and with the loud sucking-popping sounds of the

fiercely clinging mud.

Finally he is free.

With a great cry, the mud-covered man plunges his right arm

straight back down into the earth, all the way up to his

shoulder. He gropes intently and then, apparently having

grabbed hold of something underground, he starts pulling.

His arm comes slowly back up out of the mud. Clasped in his

hand is - a human foot.

Bellowing with effort he continues to pull, liberating the

foot... leg... torso of his companion, and finally his head.

As the rain starts to wash the mud off his companion's head

we see that it is his friend Evelle.

Both are bellowing.

Mud sucks and pops.

Thunder crashes.

INT. GAS STATION MENS ROOM

At the cut the ear-splitting thunder drops out to quiet. We

hear only the muffled patter of rain and the hum of a bare

fluorescent.

The two bedraggled escaped cons are standing side by side,

combing their hair in the mirror. The men seem absorbed in

their task, using hair jelly from a jar that sits on the

shelf between them to restore their duck's-ass haircuts.

Evelle cracks the bathroom door and looks out into the rain.

EVELLE:

...Okay.

GALE:

What is it?

EVELLE:

Mercury. Looks nice.

EXT. GAS STATION

The two men are trotting out to a Mercury that sits untended

at a gas island, a gas hose on automatic stuck in its tank.

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