Short Term 12 Page #5

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JAYDEN:

Um. Please don't be offended if

I'm not very friendly, but I'mgoing to be living with my dadsoon, and I don't really likewasting time on short termrelationships, so you know, it’snothing personal.

LUIS:

Wow, she seems like a really nicegirl.

GRACE:

Hey! I think we all can respect herspace, okay?

(beat)

Okay, what do we wanna play for rectoday?

LUIS:

Whiffleball!

MARCUS:

No man, we always playing thatstupid game.

LUIS:

Because you always suck at it.

Until you get good at it, maybe wecan stop playing it.

MARCUS:

Watch your mouth, bro.

GRACE:

(to Marcus and Luis)

Both of you cut it out.

(to the rest)

Any other suggestions?

Sammy, wearing a girl's top, raises his hand, which isholding a doll.

GRACE (CONT’D)

Yes, Sammy?

SAMMY:

Can we play big and small?

GRACE:

Is that a real game or is that agame you just made up?

SAMMY:

It’s a real game that I just made

up.

GRACE:

Okay, maybe you can explain it tome later.

INT. GROUP HOME LOUNGE-- LATER

JESSICA:

Straight guys!

All the kids walk out the door in a straight line. Nate and

Mason carry all the equipment for a game of whiffle ball.

Grace walks up to Jessica and holds up a pair of latexgloves.

GRACE:

I'm gonna do room checks. So I’llmeet you out there.

Jessica nods and looks back to her kids.

INT. JAYDEN'S ROOM -- DAY

Grace pulls latex gloves over her fingers.

An upbeat song bumps through Grace’s headphones as she goesto work.

She slides her hand across the top of the door, searches thecurtains, pulls open a drawer and looks under the clothes.

She flips through a sketch book filled with amazing,

emotional drawings. She can't help but look through a littlemore than she should.

She finds a few sharpie pens and a bottle of black nailpolish that she takes as contraband.

As she leaves she shakes her head at Jayden's new wall decor:

a few scientific illustrations of penis diagrams, showing allthe inner workings of the male genitalia.

INT. SAMMY'S ROOM -- DAY

She looks at all the dolls and stuffed animals on his bed and

begins to filter through them, squeezing each one to makesure they're clear.

While looking through a “junk drawer” full of weird toys andknickknacks, she finds an old PHOTO of Sammy and his sisterwhen they were little.

INT. MARCUS'S ROOM -- CONTINUOUS

Grace takes a moment to look closely at Marcus's fish.

GRACE:

Hi Nas.

She pulls all the covers off the bed and runs her fingersthrough them, squeezes a pillow, tilts up a mattress andlooks underneath.

About to drop the mattress back down, she notices something:

a small strip of tape. She reaches in and carefully peels itoff to reveal a small hole.

She carefully pushes her finger in and after a moment ofsearching, feels something. She carefully pulls out a smallbag of marijuana, a pre-rolled joint, and a lighter.

She shakes her head.

EXT. RECREATION AREA -- DAY

The kids are spread out in the grass. Nate crosses his arms

like Jessica, trying to be a leader.

KENDRA:

Come on guys. Let’s go Shawnta,

let’s go!

NATE:

Alright, we got baseball here.

There you go! You got this!

Shawnta hits the ball into the outfield towards Sammy.

Sammy's in the outfield looking at a bug (still holding hisdoll). The ball lands close to him.

LUIS:

Hey, yo Sammy. Get the ball.

Sammy looks up at the ball but doesn’t seem interested.

The girl makes it to home.

Mason walks up to Jayden, sitting in the grass with herheadphones on.

Mason sits down next to her.

MASON:

What? Too good for this game?

She takes out one of her headphones.

JAYDEN:

What?

MASON:

You too good for whiffleball?

JAYDEN:

I don't like sweat.

Marcus steps up to the plate with the skinny bat.

LUIS:

Hey, you know what Connor, just

come closer. It’s Marcus, he ain’t

gonna hit it.

LUIS (CONT’D)

You sure you don’t want to get thefat bat? No?

Luis pitches the whiffle ball, taunting Marcus, who doesn’tswing.

LUIS (CONT’D)

Strike one, everybody. Strike one!

He raises a finger to his teammates.

MARCUS:

That wasn’t no strike.

LUIS:

That was right down the middle.

This is the big leagues boy. Can’thandle it?

MARCUS:

Keep flapping them gums.

Kendra and another girl run up to Nate with a jump rope inhand.

KENDRA:

Hey, you wanna jump rope with us?

Nate wants to say yes, but remembers what he's told.

NATE:

No?

The girls turn away, defeated.

NATE (CONT’D)

Sorry, we’re not suppose to...

JESSICA:

That’s not what we meant.

MASON:

(to Jayden)

Can I hear?

She apathetically hands him one of her ear buds.

Grace arrives on the scene. She notices Mason sitting on thesideline with Jayden, listening to the same ipod, bouncing tothe same beat.

Luis pitches.

Marcus swings and misses.

MARCUS:

F***!

LUIS:

Strick three! Change it up.

Marcus does his best to curb his frustration. Luis brushes

by him, tauntingly.

LUIS (CONT’D)

Bet your mom’s excited to see younext week.

Marcus c*cks his head, wondering if he heard correctly. Luis

keeps walking but Marcus spins around and swings. BAM! He

clocks him hard on the back with the plastic bat.

GRACE:

Marcus!

Grace sees it and sprints to them. All the staff rush to the

scene.

Luis winces in pain, spins around to face Marcus who grabshim by the face and throws him to the ground.

MARCUS:

What’d the f*** you say about mymom you little b*tch?!

Marcus winds up to hit him again, but is pushed away byGrace.

She gets right up in Marcus's face and pushes him.

GRACE:

Hey, Hey! What are you doing? Get

your ass over to the bench!

MASON:

Guys, get Luis out of here!

JESSICA:

Luis, come on, come on.

NATE:

(to Luis)

Where does it hurt?

Nate and Jessica take Luis away.

Improvisation:
w/ game in session, Jessica and Nate are

checking with Luis.

JESSICA:

(to Luis)

You okay, man? How do you feel?

NATE:

Not good. I mean that was crazy.

They just fight like that?

JESSICA:

Nate. I’m not asking you how you’re

feeling, okay.

NATE:

Right. I’m sorry.

(to Luis)

How are you?

EXT. RECREATION AREA -- MOMENTS LATER

The game is in session.

Grace sits on the bench next to Marcus. They sit in silencefor a moment.

GRACE:

You need to tell me what the hell

is going on.

Marcus doesn't look up.

Grace reaches into her pocket and pulls out the bag of potshe found earlier. She places it on the bench between them.

Marcus gets a little uncomfortable.

GRACE (CONT’D)

Assault and drug possession? You

realize that’s enough to get yourass thrown in juvi.

MARCUS:

You think I give a f***?

GRACE:

You're out of here in less than a

week. You’re so much smarter than

this. I know it’s scary out there.

MARCUS:

I ain’t scared of sh*t.

GRACE:

All I’m saying is, getting thrown

in jail is not what you want to do.

Marcus shakes his head.

She looks off.

GRACE (CONT’D)

My dad’s been in there for 10

years.

This catches his attention.

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