Shockproof Page #3

Well, how does Mrs. Marat feel

about this sort of homework?

- She encourages it.

- You're kidding.

Hello, Fred. Get in.

- You're right on time.

- Yeah.

Jenny, this is Fred Bauer. Jenny Marsh.

- How do you do, Miss Marsh?

- How do you do?

You didn't mention a chaperone.

I'm not a chaperone. I'm a dishwasher.

A dishwasher? At what restaurant?

No, we're not eating at a restaurant.

We're going to my house.

- Does Mrs. Marat expect us?

- Sure.

I see.

- Hi.

- Hi.

- I brought Barry along for dinner, okay?

- Okay, get in.

- This is Tommy.

- Cut out the Tommy, can't you, Griff?

Sorry. This is Mr. Thomas Marat

and his friend Barry.

Miss Marsh, Mr. Bauer.

- How do you do?

- Hello.

Hi.

- Your son?

- Kid brother.

Say, Griff, I told Barry you handled

that killer Mike Cardoza,

and he said no.

You did, didn't you?

Wasn't he that killer, and you beat him up?

See? They give him all the killers.

We're playing Lowell High

next Saturday, semifinals.

- Can you come, Griff?

- Hey, why don't you sit back?

- You smell like a horse.

- Please, there's a lady present.

- Will you come Saturday, Griff?

- Sure.

- Who's going to win?

- We'll annihilate them.

Come on.

- Hi, Mom.

- Hi.

Hi.

Griff is bringing a lady and a man.

Yes, Tommy. Yes, Tommy, I know.

Brought a couple of friends home for dinner.

Jenny Marsh and Fred Bauer.

I don't see, Miss Marsh.

You will have to take my hand, please.

- Here, Mama.

- I'm sorry.

- How do you do, Mrs. Marat?

- How do you do, Miss Marsh?

Hey, Barry, watch this.

- Blonde or brunette, Mom?

- Brunette.

- Hey, you're wrong, Mom.

- Wrong?

She's never missed before.

She can tell by the voice and the handshake.

She's blonde, Mom, and how.

One mistake doesn't count.

Won't you come in, Miss Marsh?

I don't want to spoil your record, Mrs. Marat.

I think I should tell you I'm really a brunette.

Bleached.

Well, what do you know? Well,

how's it done? Well, what do they use?

It's a long story.

- Gosh, it looks good, doesn't it?

- Sure does.

Go get cleaned up, boys.

- Change your shirt, Tommy.

- Yeah, and hurry up.

I'm starving.

- Here, let me have your coat.

- Thank you.

Come on, Fred. You and I have work to do.

Griff is our cook these days.

- Griff?

- Yes, our part-time helper left.

Would you rather stay here?

I am going to the kitchen.

I'd like to help.

You have a nice big house here.

It's an old house. Tommy was born here.

How many of you are there living here?

Just Griff and Tommy and me now.

Now? Is somebody missing?

My husband died last year.

I miss him. I'm alone all day now.

What do I do?

If you bring me the radishes

from the refrigerator, I'll fix them.

- All right.

- Then you can set the table,

- if you don't mind.

- Yes, sure.

- Mrs. Marat is wonderful, isn't she?

- Yes, she's terrific.

Griff Marat has done a lot for me.

Are you an old friend?

I'd like you to know something, Jenny.

- Yes?

- I'm not exactly a friend of the family.

I'm one of his parolees.

Yes, I appreciate what he's doing,

bringing me here,

meeting his friends, like you and his family.

But I don't like pretending

to be something I'm not,

so I thought I'd tell you.

- What's the matter?

- I'm leaving.

- Why?

- I don't have to take this.

I wondered what it was all about.

Well, now I know.

It's part of the treatment,

the "be kind to jailbirds" system.

Show them a bit of home life.

Sweet influences for sick souls.

Well, I don't need your pity,

or your mother's, or anybody's.

My mother doesn't know about you

or about Bauer,

and she doesn't care.

Anybody I bring home is okay.

And that story about being married,

what was that for?

- Afraid I might make a pass at you?

- I always say that.

- To the female parolees?

- Sure, if I'm asked. Why not?

You didn't have to.

Believe me, it wasn't necessary.

I didn't think it was.

It's a regular procedure in the office.

- Regulation 86-B.

- Then they'd better fix the regulation.

It makes a liar out of you,

and a liar's a bad example

for the weak characters you deal with.

Look, Jenny, please try to get

that chip off your shoulder.

Come on, let's stop kidding each other.

I want to talk straight to you.

You're different, Jenny.

You have a promising life ahead of you

if you'II...

I know. If I keep away from Harry Wesson.

- Well, why can't you?

- It isn't complicated.

How would you feel if somebody

had waited five years just for you?

- Are you sure he did?

- Yes.

He's the only man

who was ever really kind to me.

He was patient and kind.

He taught me what fork to use,

how to dress correctly,

how to speak correctly.

Everything but how to think correctly.

You'd do a great deal for Harry Wesson,

wouldn't you?

- Yes, I'd do anything for him.

- You did. You even killed for him.

That's right. I did.

Thank you, Sam.

- Griff?

- Yeah.

- What about Jenny Marsh?

- Well, what about her?

You've been trying to land her a job

for more than a week.

I checked.

Four employers turned her down flat,

as soon as they learned she was a violator.

- Yeah, well, she's got a job.

- No kidding.

I had to find her one where Harry Wesson

couldn't get to her.

I found it.

She lives where she works,

eats there, sleeps there.

She gets 100 a month, one day off a week,

and she reports to me every day.

- What's the job?

- Taking care of a blind woman.

Take it easy.

- Hi. Home already? Have a good workout?

- Yeah.

- Where's everybody?

- Mom went to bed. She's tired.

Jenny's somewhere.

Okay, maestro.

- Hello.

- Hello.

- I thought this was your night at the Y.

- I was there.

Phoning somebody?

I phoned to see what time a movie went on.

Your mother said she wouldn't need me.

Why? Did you think

I was calling Harry Wesson?

I didn't think you were. I was just...

Is that why you got me this job here,

so you could spy on me?

I'm not spying on you, Jenny.

It's my job to check on you.

You're making it more than that

because of Harry.

- That's not true!

- Isn't it?

Okay, I admit that...

Because he loves me

and wants to be with me.

- What's wrong with that?

- He doesn't love anybody but himself.

He's done everything for me.

He gives you things with money

he never earned,

without denying himself anything.

You don't know what love is.

And you, teacher, do you know?

Well, not from experience,

but I've imagined it differently.

When you fall in love, really in love,

I think you'd know it for sure.

A man would feel, for the first time,

how wonderful life could be

when he has someone to share it with.

And he'd want to give her the good things

of life, not just the trimmings,

friends, home, children. And he'd think

of her before himself in everything,

her welfare, her future, her happiness.

And if she loved him, he'd be rich.

Most men don't think like that.

You only know Harry Wesson.

I'm sorry, Jenny.

I don't want to hurt you.

I know that, Griff.

Hey, what time does that movie go on?

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