Six Feet Under Page #16

NATE (V.O.) (CONT'D)

And on the boat over, there was this

pine box, somebody from the island who

was being returned to be buried there.

CLOSE ON THE SICILIANS, their ancient faces like crinkled

paper, lined with age and experience.

NATE (V.O.) (CONT'D)

And these old Sicilians were waiting

there, dressed all in black, lined up on

the beach, and...

The rowboat reaches the beach and the rowers drag the coffin

onto the sand. The old Sicilian women hurl themselves onto it

and start CRYING and SCREAMING. The old Sicilian men look on,

stone-faced.

NATE (V.O.) (CONT'D)

...when they got the coffin to the beach,

those women just went apeshit. Screaming,

throwing themselves on it, beating their

chests, tearing at their hair, making

animal noises. It was so...

22-YEAR-OLD NATE watches from the deck of the cabin cruiser.

NATE (V.O.) (CONT'D)

...so real. I mean, I'd been around

funerals my whole life, but I had never

seen such... grief.

NATE'S POV:
Across the water, on the beach, the women continue

carrying on.

NATE (V.O.) (CONT'D)

And at the time, it gave me the creeps.

But now I think it was probably so much

more healthy than...

70 INT. SLUMBER ROOM - PRESENT DAY (DAY THREE) 70

Nate and Claire, on the couch, in the midst of the viewing

NATE:

(gestures)

...this.

A beat.

CLAIRE:

(oblivious)

That cop is cute.

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45.

71 INT. SIDE ROOM - CONTINUOUS (DAY THREE) 71

Ruth sits on a couch, crying. David sits next to her, holding

a box of Kleenex.

RUTH:

Oh, David. David.

DAVID:

I know, Mom. It's going to be okay, it

just takes time.

RUTH:

I've done a terrible, terrible thing.

DAVID:

What?

RUTH:

I've done a terrible thing.

Nate enters.

NATE:

How's she doing?

DAVID:

She's fine.

RUTH:

(breaking down)

I'm not fine! I'm a whore! I was

unfaithful to your father! For years!

A beat. Nate and David are speechless.

RUTH (CONT'D)

And now he knows! He knows!

NATE:

Uh...

RUTH:

(the floodgates open)

I met a man at church, once when your

father didn't come with me.

NATE:

Mom, it's okay.

RUTH:

And he invited me for coffee, and he

said he liked my hair--he's a hairdresser,

a widower, well, they divorced before

(MORE)

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46.

RUTH (CONT'D)

she died, so technically I guess he's

divorced--

DAVID:

This is really not the time--

NATE:

Maybe she needs to just get this out.

RUTH:

--and he invited me to accompany him on

a hike, I didn't even have the right

shoes,I wore sandals--

DAVID:

(to Nate, overlapping)

Yeah, well, I don't want to hear it.

RUTH:

--I used to love hiking when I was

younger, and being outdoors--I always

wanted to take you kids camping but your

father would never leave the business...

NATE:

(to David)

Go back out. I'll stay here with her.

DAVID:

(an edge)

What are you now, a priest?

RUTH:

Well, I can tell you, I went camping

with this man from church. Several times.

Told your father I was visiting my sister,

which, if he'd ever thought to call--

DAVID:

(to Ruth)

Can you even begin to fathom the

impropriety of this? Your husband is

lying in a casket out there!

NATE (ANGRY)

David, she's grief-stricken, okay? F***

propriety!

David glares at him, incensed, then storms out. Ruth breaks

down again. Nate comforts her.

RUTH:

(through tears)

We don't say that word.

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47.

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