Rushmore Page #11

MAX:

Well, I'm sure he does.

MRS. BLUME

No, he doesn't.

MAX:

I know you don't really mean that.

MRS. BLUME

(angry) Of course, I do.

MAX:

From his perspective it's -

MRS. BLUME

Why did you call me?

MAX:

That's what I'm trying to tell you.

MRS. BLUME

(icily) Please. Get to the point.

MAX:

Gladly. Your husband's f***ing a schoolteacher, pardon my

French. I thought you should know.

Silence.

MRS. BLUME

Why are you telling me this? Are you trying to hurt Mr.

Blume? Or are you trying to hurt me?

MAX:

I have no reason to want to hurt you.

MRS. BLUME

Then you're trying to hurt Herman.

MAX:

That's correct.

INT. THE BILBY-FLICKENGER HOTEL. NIGHT

The vast lobby of the Bilby-Flickenger. Mr. Blume is leaning

against the counter at the front desk. His luggage fills up

two carts behind him. A faint smile plays across his lips as

he stares off into space. The CONCIERGE is checking him in.

CONCIERGE:

And how long will you be staying with us, Mr. Blume?

MR. BLUME

Indefinitely. I'm getting a divorce.

CONCIERGE:

(typing away) Very good, sir.

Mr. Blume yells to the BELLMAN.

MR. BLUME

Yo!

The bellman looks up. Mr. Blume waves. The bellman waves

back. The concierge gives Mr. Blume his room key.

CONCIERGE:

Here you are Mr. Blume. Charles will show you to your room.

MR. BLUME

Wonderful. Where's the pool, by the way? I might want to

take a dip before dinner.

CONCIERGE:

It's on the roof, sir.

MR. BLUME

Terrific!

Mr. Blume gets on the elevator with the bellman. The bellman

looks at him and smiles.

BELLMAN:

You certainly seem happy today, sir.

MR. BLUME

You bet your little ass I am, shorty. I lost my family. But

I gained a woman I love.

BELLMAN:

Not a bad tradeoff.

INT. HOTEL ROOM. DAY

The living room of Mr. Blume's suite. Mr. Blume is dressed

in a bathrobe with the Bilbly-Flickenger stitched on the

pocket. He sits at his table having breakfast and reading

the newspaper. There is a little basket in front of him with

a jar of hone in it. A note attached to the jar says, "Enjoy

your stay."

A little bug flies around Mr. Blume's head. He swats it away

and keeps reading.

Two more bugs come buzzing around him. Mr. Blume looks up

and frowns. They're bees. Mr. Blume slaps at his neck and

jumps to his feet as he gets stung.

Mr. BLUME

Sh*t!

Bees are circling all over the room. Mr. Blume looks around

frantically. He sees something at the bottom of the front

door. It is a little plastic tube with bees crawling out of

it and taking off.

INT. BASEMENT. DAY

Max comes out of the freight elevator wearing a red room

service jacket with the Bilby-Flickenger stitched on the

pocket. He has a wooden box with Rushmore Beekeepers

stenciled on it. Max throws the jacket in a laundry cart and

goes out the back door.

EXT. GROVER CLEVELAND HIGH SCHOOL. DAY

Mr. Blume gets out of his car in the driveway at Grover

Cleveland. He opens the trunk and takes out a set of steel

cable cutters. He goes over to the bike racks and cuts the

lock off Max's ten-speed.

Mr. Blume lays the bicycle on the ground in front of his car

and runs over it. Then he throws the car in reverse and goes

over it again. He picks up the destroyed bicycle and takes

it back to the bike racks and wraps the lock back around it.

The small Indian groundskeeper we saw earlier on the roof is

driving by in a Volkswagen Beetle. He frowns at Mr. Blume.

Mr. Blume hurries back to his car.

EXT. BLUME INTERNATIONAL CONCRETE. DAY

The front gates of the concrete plant. Max rides up on an

old grandmothers' bicycle with fenders and a handlebar

basket. He's got a black duffel bag strapped to his back.

Max waves to the SECURITY GUARD. The guard waves back:

Max rides onto the lot and pulls over next to Mr. Blume's

Bentley. He leans his bike against the car door. He unzips

his duffel bag and slides underneath the car.

EXT. RUSHMORE. DAY

Mr. Blume pulls into the driveway to pick-up the twins from

school. There is a lot of traffic and kids are running

around everywhere. Mr. Blume taps the brakes. Nothing

happens. He flies toward the back of a parked station wagon.

He jerks the steering wheel and bounces up onto the

sidewalk. The car pops through a wooden fence and rolls

across the grass into the quadrangle.

The Indian groundskeeper is raking leaves as the car goes

past him. He watches as it crunches over some bushes and

scrapes against a stone wall. It rolls to a stop in the

middle of the quad.

Mr. Blume gets out of the car and looks at the damage. He

looks over at the white-haired Indian groundskeeper.

The groundskeeper goes back to raking.

EXT. PARKING LOT. DAY

Kids watch from classrooms up and down the hall as Max is

escorted away in handcuffs by the POLICE. Max has a hardened

expression on his face.

INT. POLICE STATION. DAY

The county lock-up. Mr. Fischer watches through bulletproof

glass as Max walks down a long, lonely corridor.

The door buzzes open. Max comes into the waiting room.

MAX:

Thanks for bailing me out, Dad. Can you drop me off at

Rushmore? I got to go settle a score.

MR. FISCHER

(hesitates)

You think that's wise, Max?

MAX:

(angry) Dad. Please. Stay out of it.

EXT. RUSHMORE. DAY

Max walks into the quadrangle with cold expression on his

face. It is Halloween and there is a jack-o-lantern on the

steps. Lots of kids are dressed in costumes.

Suddenly, Max is being pelted with rocks. He looks around

frantically and sees Dirk and a longhaired kid named TOMMY

STALLINGS as they set upon him.

Dirk is dressed as a sorcerer. Tommy has on a karate outfit

with a black belt. Max runs for cover behind some bushes.

MAX:

What are you doing? Are you crazy?

DIRK:

You're trespassing! This is private property!

More rocks sail past Max. A pinecone hits him on the head.

MAX:

Wait a minute! Stop!

Max raises his hands in the air. Dirk motions for Tommy to

hold his fire. Max slowly stands up.

MAX:

Let's have a truce for a second. I want to talk.

They meet out in the open. Tommy follows with a rock in each

hand. Silence.

MAX:

What's this all about?

Dirk stares at Max or along minute.

DIRK:

Did you say my mother gave you a hand job?

MAX:

(shocked) What?

DIRK:

(steely) Did you say it?

MAX:

Who told you that goddamn lie?

Silence.

MAX:

Never mind. I know who said it. And I'm going to stick a

knife in his heart. And I'm going to send him back to

Ireland in a bodybag.

TOMMY:

He's from Scotland.

MAX:

Well, tell that stupid mick he just made my list of things

to do today. I'm going to pop a cap in his ass.

INT. TEAROOM. DAY

A little salon with Persian rugs. There is a fire in the

fireplace and a harpsichord plays softly on the radio. Dr.

Guggenheim is sitting at a little table having tea with Max.

Dr. Guggenheim has several bottles of prescription medicine

in front of him and a blanket wrapped around him like a

shawl. He stares at Max stonily. There is a manila envelope

on the table in between them.

MAX:

Did you receive the package?

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