Shoot The Moon Page #4

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That's why I'm drinking wine now.

Who would have thought

a goddamn insurance man?

We have to be grown-up about this,

George, right?

Would you like to say goodbye

to the children?

"The children"? What's that?

"The children." Sounds so legal.

Jill, Marianne, Molly!

- Bye, Daddy.

- Bye.

- Good night. Bye, Daddy.

- Are you gonna read the books?

Where's the policeman?

Did Mom do something wrong?

No, no, darling. He couldn't...

He just came to help Daddy get his books.

Where's Sherry?

She's spending the night at Joanne's.

Oh. I'll walk you to the car.

Don't bother.

Well, all right. Kids, go on upstairs now.

It's cold out. Go on, hurry up.

Good night, Mrs. Dunlap.

Thanks for the coffee.

Anytime.

You out here alone with the children now?

Yeah.

I'd get some bolts on those doors

if I were you. Front and back.

- Goodbye, ma'am.

- Bye.

- Real pretty, isn't it?

- I thought you didn't like the beach.

- Is this the back way?

- No, this is the front way.

The front way's the scenic way.

I thought we'd go in this way.

The backs just a regular driveway.

Next time, let's go the back way.

Yeah, the back way's okay for us.

- Is he gonna be there?

- Who?

- Doesn't she have a little boy?

- Oh, you mean Timmy.

Timmy?

Timmy's with his father.

But isn't it pretty?

You getting sand in your shoes, Dad?

Don't you hate the sand in your shoes?

I thought you'd like this.

The beach and all,

the boats and everything.

No, a regular driveway's good enough

for us, Dad.

I thought this way was prettier.

Isn't it pretty? Jesus!

Sure, sure, it's pretty. Real scenic.

Yeah, very scenic.

Yeah, it's pretty all right.

Very pretty, Daddy.

The beach and the boats and everything.

Very pretty.

Is it always this hot?

Is she pretty?

Hi. Molly, Jill, Marianne.

Well, do I pass?

Well, aren't you going to say hello?

- Hi.

- Hi.

Hi. Come on in.

Well, go on. Go on in.

I was looking for you at the back door.

Daddy likes the front way.

He likes the boats.

I've got lemonade

and chocolate chip cookies.

How's that sound?

- Great.

- Yeah, great.

Yuck.

Oh, God.

Oh, I miss him. It's not worth it.

Hello? Oh, hi, Mom. How are you?

How's Dad?

I see. You sure?

Well, you know, I was reading

about this holistic health spa,

and they really seem to be doing

these wonderful things.

No.

Yeah, well, do it your way.

I wouldn't dream of interfering.

They're fine. They're fine.

They're away with George

for the weekend.

Yes, I know who she is.

Well, I can't afford

a big-city lawyer, Mother,

but the lawyer that I have

is supposed to be very good.

His name is Katz. It's Sheldon Katz.

He's known as "the Butcher."

They make the best

divorce lawyers, Mother.

Well, George is my business, Mother.

I mean, really, I just wish you...

Yeah, I know. I'm sorry.

I'm very sorry.

I know how you feel, Mother.

I know.

Yeah, well, give my love to Dad, will you?

And kiss him for me?

And love to you, Mom.

Yeah, okay. Bye-bye.

Yeah. I'm sorry, too. Yeah.

Okay, bye.

Hand me one of the bones down there,

would you, please?

Here you go, Bingo. Eat that, boy.

You don't want it?

Save it for later.

You bring your 12-gauge with you?

I'll be right there!

- Oh, hi. Are you Mrs. Dunlap?

- Yeah.

- I'm Frank Henderson.

- Yeah?

We spoke on the phone

about the tennis court.

Oh, my... Oh, my God.

I believe you said

the first of this month, didn't you?

Yeah, I did, but...

Oh, Jesus, that was such a long time ago.

You don't want the tennis court no more?

Well, yes, I want the court.

I've wanted that court for five years.

- Five years is a long time to wait, huh?

- Yeah.

- It's $1,000 to start.

- $1,000?

Yeah, well, that's what we discussed,

Mrs. Dunlap, on the phone, if you recall.

You see, $1,000 is sort of

a guarantee there, it's a deposit,

and I set this time aside for you.

I turned down some other work.

- Hope you understand.

- Oh, yeah, I understand and...

I mean, I want you to go ahead

with the court. There's just one problem.

- What's that?

- Well, I haven't got the $1,000.

Well... Well, that's real hard for me

to believe, Mrs. Dunlap.

Yeah, well, my husband left me.

- Oh.

- Yeah.

So right now I'm knee-deep in lawyers and

separation agreements and child support

and it's just a bunch of sh*t.

So it's hard right now.

I don't know when I would pay you.

I just... I would. I really would.

That's probably not good enough

for you, right?

Well, I'd like to give you a hand there,

but...

Yeah.

No, I got a partner back there and stuff,

and he's always raving at me

about one thing or another.

- You know how it is.

- Yeah, sure, I understand.

Well, listen, never mind.

It would have been real nice,

and I'm glad you came by.

I hope we haven't taken up

too much of your time.

- Oh, no, no, not at all.

- Really?

- Okay. Well...

- Here.

Thanks. Thanks a lot for coming by.

- You bet.

- And...

- It's good to meet you.

- It's good to meet you, too.

I'm real sorry about this.

- Yeah, me, too.

- Yeah?

- Well...

- Well.

- Where were you gonna put it?

- What?

- Oh, out there. In the grove.

- The court.

- Oh, yeah, that's a good spot.

- Yeah.

- Well, look... Sorry.

- Oh.

Here's the jacket. Is everything there?

- That's a good guy there.

- Oh, this is just crazy.

- Well, I am sorry.

- Yeah.

So...

What?

Let me ask you,

when would I get my $1,000?

At the end of the month,

and then I'd give you a note for the rest.

- Okay.

- Okay?

- What? What?

- I'll do it.

- You will?

- You bet.

That's great.

That's good. I'll meet you

out in the grove in a couple minutes.

Okay.

Get the loader out, Rick.

You got a check?

Oh, no, not exactly.

- Oh, for Christ's sake, Frank.

- Will you get the loader out?

Okay, okay.

- Her husband left her.

- I see.

Besides, I like her.

Her or her ass?

I hadn't noticed her ass.

How many chimneys are there?

- One, two, three, four.

- I was just trying to be funny.

- A dirty rock.

- Look at the water.

- Yuck.

- Throw money in there.

Spooky.

- They say it was really beautiful once.

- What happened?

The night before Jack London

was to move into this house,

somebody set fire to it.

- Who set fire to it?

- They don't know.

Could have been one of the workmen.

Could have been somebody jealous.

He was a very great author. I don't know.

Then what happened to him?

Jack London lost everything,

all up in smoke.

But he still had his wife.

- Second wife.

- She loved him a lot.

He was everything to her.

What happened to

Jack London's first wife?

I don't know, Jill. I don't know.

What about his kids?

Did he have any kids?

- There were children, weren't there?

- I'm not sure.

The leaflet says two.

What does it say

about the children, Marianne?

Nothing. It doesn't say anything

about the children.

I guess he forgot about them

after he married his second wife.

Such an important man.

That's all that's left?

- Just a rock.

- It's a pretty rock.

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